


The Lives of Beacon Huntsmen

by DanielSprings_3065



Series: The Lives of Beacon Huntsman [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, I Tried, I'm Bad At Summaries, My First Work in This Fandom, Please Don't Kill Me, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Surprise Pairing, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:06:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 71,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23987212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanielSprings_3065/pseuds/DanielSprings_3065
Summary: (This is my first time writing a fanfiction. I hope you give it a try and leave constructive criticism.)This is a story about the four most popular teams in Beacon Academy: Team DAMN (Diamond,) Team JASN (Jasmine,) Team RWBY (Ruby,) and Team JNPR (Juniper.) Join them as they embark on different adventures to overcome the obstacles of becoming huntsman, finding true love... and getting good grades. Told in multiple POVs, with many short stories in between.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: The Lives of Beacon Huntsman [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729591
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	1. Initiation - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Or maybe no one... Or maybe someone? Whatever the case, I'm happy you decided to give this a read. I've been on AO3 for a while now, but I never made an account until now. I'm new to writing fanfictions, but I've been writing my own book for a while now, so I should be fine, right? Anyway, enjoy my first fanfiction; The First Year!
> 
> 3065

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I worked really hard on this chapter. If you see any mistakes, tell me in the comments. Either way, enjoy!  
> This first chapter is (mostly) canon-compliant.  
> (Sorry if my writing style looks a bit strange.)

**_Up high in an airship on its way to Beacon Academy..._ **

**Daniel's POV; first person.**

I woke up from a nap on the airship when my wolf ears picked up on two girls saying something about bees and normal knees. I didn't want to go back to sleep, so I got up from my seat and looked out a window. We were above a large forest with bright green trees, and I could see the large building that is Beacon Academy. I quickly took out my scroll from my blue hoodie pocket and began recording.

"Hello friends, family and whoever else might be watching," I said. "It's me, Daniel Springs, greeting you all from high above the Emerald Forest. As you can see in the distance, we're almost to Beacon, but I wanted to share this view with you boys and girls, as it's too _amazing_ to keep all to myself." I panned the camera left and right. "I have to get going, but I'll be sure to keep you guys updated. Bye!" I turned off the camera and put it back in my pocket when I heard the news channel.

"...The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."

I turned my attention to the two girls who were talking earlier. One was tall, with flowing blonde hair, and the other was shorter, with short, red-tipped hair. _Wonder what they were talking about._ The holo-TV then changed, and another woman with blonde hair tied in a bun replaced the news channel.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon!" she announced. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace..."

I tuned her out and looked at the time on my scroll. _7:36am,_ I thought. _Jeez, can this go any_ _faster?_

I was interrupted from my thoughts when I saw some blond guy retching and trying not to throw up. He was definitely failing, though. He went off somewhere, I didn't bother to find out where. I did hear someone say, "Let's hope they're better than Vomit Boy." _Rude._

The airship slowed down and began the landing process. When the doors opened, the same blond guy ran out first straight at the nearest trash can and puked in there. _Yeesh, thank god I don't have motion sickness._

I followed the rest of the students toward the opening doors of Beacon when I heard an explosion behind me. I turned around and saw that the short red-tipped girl had dropped what seemed to be Fire Dust, and was apologizing to a white-haired girl. I quietly snickered to myself and ran ahead of the other students into a large room with a really high roof. Once everyone was inside and quiet, a slightly smirking man with white, kind of spiky hair walked up to the microphone. "Ahem," he announced. "I'll, uh, keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." His face then turned serious. "But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. you assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." The man walked away, and Glynda Goodwitch took the stand. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Everyone starting murmuring amongst themselves, but they did as they were told. As I was walking away, I accidentally bumped into a girl with long black hair, matching black ears and red eyes. She was almost as tall as me, and that's pretty tall since I'm six foot three. "Sorry," she apologized. "I wasn't paying attention."

 _Her voice is smoother and deeper than most girls,_ I thought. "It's fine, I wasn't either. What's your name?"

"Ashley Miller, you?" she responded.

"Daniel Springs, nice to meet you." I extended my hand for a handshake, and she held it tightly. "Wow, firm grasp. Nice."

"Thanks," she said. "I should get going now."

"Me too. See ya later." I turned on my heel and followed all of the other students

* * *

Everyone was on the floor in a sleeping bag, either quietly whispering to each other, or sleeping like they were supposed to. I looked around and saw the same two girls on the opposite side of the room, talking to the white-haired girl from earlier and a girl with black cats ears. I briefly wondered if it was Ashley, but just then the real Ashley tapped my shoulder and I'll admit, I was a little startled.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Jeez," I responded. "Don't sneak up on me like that! What are you doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what everyone else is supposed to be doing here, getting ready to go to sleep."

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously. I meant, like, what are you doing over here?"

She shrugged. "I'm gonna sleep over here."

"Oh, okay." I grabbed two sleeping bags and handed one to her. She took it, thanked me, and laid it down on the floor so it was aligned with everyone else's, but then she did the same with mine.

"Uh, what are you doing?" I asked.

"I just thought that maybe we could talk a little since I'm not gonna sleep right this moment. Is that okay with you?"

I shrugged. "I've nothing better to do, so why not?"

We both lie down on the sleeping bags and pulled up the covers. "Alright," I said. "You go first."

She cleared her throat. "Well, you already know my name, but I'm Ashley Miller, fifteen years old, and my birthday is February 25."

"Wait," I said. "You're fifteen? Did you get an early admission?"

She nodded. "Not by the headmaster himself, but yeah. My semblance is Shadows." She gestured behind me, where there was a small translucent black figure. "I can control the darkness, and use it either as a weapon, or a form of quick transportation, such as a way to avoid attacks. I can also make myself into a shadow, but that requires a lot of Aura."

"Wow, that's a sweet semblance," I praised. "Now it's my turn. I'm Daniel Springs, sixteen years old, and my birthday is June 22. I call my semblance "Static Crystal." I held up my palms, and they were covered in crystals in the shape of knights' greaves. "I can make them take the shape of virtually everything, including intricate statues, and they can function exactly how I want them to." I clapped my hands together, and small, almost invisible sparks flew off of them. "They also absorb friction from anything that touches them, and then they multiply that friction as many times as necessary in order to create static electricity, which in turn multiplies my power, and gives me the ability to use electricity as my power." I focused my aura into the greaves, then I put my index finger close to my thumb, and blue electricity connected them like Tesla coils.

Ashley was impressed. "That's an even better semblance. What else does the static electricity boost?"

"My speed, my strength, it even increases my fortification, and nothing in this world can break them, except for me," I smirked. "So imagine how it will be when I fight Grimm."

She smiled. "Alright, I think we should be going to bed now." She stretched out and turned opposite from me. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said back.

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day.


	2. Initiation - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! And apparently so are 42 people! Wow! I never thought I'd see the day where more than 10 people read something I wrote!
> 
> Anyways, in case you all are wondering, this fic will be updated every Sunday, but I'm gonna post tomorrow because it's Memorial Day, just to keep you guys busy. No need to thank me! 
> 
> (Crickets)
> 
> Sheesh, tough crowd. Well, hopefully you'll enjoy this next chapter! And, by the way, Daniel speaks Spanish sometimes, so if you don't know the language yourself, just go to google translate.
> 
> (This chapter is also canon-compliant. Also, let me know if I didn't get how static electricity works in the previous chapter, thanks.)

_**Beacon Academy, Locker room.** _

**Daniel's POV; first person.**

I opened the locker that was assigned to me and pulled out some blue and black fingerless gloves. Ashley, who was right beside me, grabbed two black cylinders, hooked them to both of her hips, and slammed her locker door shut.

"Why do you need those?" she asked, pointing to my gloves.

"Well," I said. "Sometimes, the crystals covering my hands isn't all that comfortable. You can imagine how it would feel if your hands were inside of a hard surface all day."

She nodded. "I see. Well, these are my weapons, dual katanas." She pressed a small button on the side, and blades sprouted from the cylinders in a split second. Then, she pressed another small button and they folded back, making two small guns with the blades sticking out at the back. "They're also guns, and I can grab them upside down to use them as blades in case I don't have the time to switch back."

I raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Clever." I looked around us and saw a bunch of other students grabbing stuff from lockers, talking to each other and laughing. I also saw a tall girl with long, straight red hair, and she was wearing a red, casual long-sleeved dress with a brown belt. She was talking with a shorter girl who also had straight hair and a casual dress, but her hair was slightly shorter and blonde, and her dress was green and short-sleeved, with a white belt. They both had bright green eyes, and it looked like the blonde one had...

 _Flowers on her head?_ I thought. _That's odd._ Just then, I heard a yelp, and then a thud. I turned around to see that another tall redhead had thrown a spear at the guy who had been called Vomit Boy.

"I'm sorry!" the redhead cried out.

_"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff, immediately."_

"Guess it's time for us to begin," Ashley said. "Good luck.

"Same to you," I replied. We both headed towards Beacon Cliff.

* * *

"For years, you have trained to become warriors," The headmaster said. "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now," Mrs. Goodwitch said. "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

Everyone started murmuring, more confused than they were before.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon," the headmaster said. "So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Everyone gasped, excited and nervous. "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Everyone was silent, letting what the headmaster said sink in. _What a great pep talk,_ I thought sarcastically.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Vomit Boy, who was to my left, raised his hand. "Uh, yes, sir-"

"Good!" he interrupted. "Now, take your positions."

I took up a runner's stance and braced myself. Everyone else prepared to take off.

"Uh, sir?" Vomit Boy asked. "I've got, um, a question." A student catapulted. "So, this landing strategy thing, uh," Another student gone. "w-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

The headmaster sipped his coffee. "No. You will be falling." Another student off into the air.

"Oh, I see. So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Three more students launched.

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy."

He looked nervous. "Uh-huh, y-yeah. So, um, what exactly is a landing strateGYYYY!" He was flung off from where he was standing, soaring in the sky with the other students. _Yikes, that was cruel. Oh well._ Then, right before I was catapulted, I used some electricity to boost my speed, and I was sent flying at a _much_ faster speed than the other students, all the while screaming "WHOO-HOOO!"

* * *

I was flying in the air, following Ashley without her noticing. I was creating small crystal platforms to jump off of to slow my fall. _This is_ my _landing strategy,_ I thought. I was getting closer to Ashley, but she disappeared in a cloak of black and went faster than me. _Damn, it's cooler than she let on!_ I landed on a branch, and started jumping from tree to tree, until I finally hit the ground, and pulse a dome of sky blue electricity outwards. _That never gets old._ I inspected my surroundings, trying to find where Ashley had went. "Hello?" I called out. "Ashley?"

"You called?"

My heart almost leaped out of my chest right then. I spun around and saw Ashley crouching down in a tree. "That's the second time you've scared me!" I laughed. "You should give yourself a pat on the back, not many people are able to scare me twice."

She hopped down from the tree and landed in front of me, brushing off her lavender uniform shirt. "Well, anyway, I guess this means we're on the same team?"

I shrugged. "I guess so. It's a good thing, though." I looked up at the sky. "So, we have to head north, huh?"

"Yep," she confirmed. "But, how do we know which way is north?"

"That's easy," I said. I picked up a relatively straight stick and planted it straight down into the ground. The rising sun gave the stick a shadow, which pointed in a certain direction. Then, I got a rock and placed it at the tip of the stick's shadow. Finally, I smirked at Ashley and pointed left. "That's north."

"How do you know?" she asked, suspicious.

"Camping trips with my dad and older brother," I said like it was obvious. "Dad taught me how to tell direction _and_ time with the sun."

"I see," she said. 

"Come on, this way." I put my hands in my blue hoodie's center pocket, and we walked north towards the relics.

However, we were barely five minutes into our walk, when we heard rustling in the bushes.

"You hear that?" I asked.

She nodded. "Grimm." She extended her katanas and raised them, ready to attack, and I encased my hands in the gauntlets I showed Ashley yesterday along with greaves for my shins. We were silent for a few seconds, and a pack of three Beowolves jumped out at us, claws raised. I charged two of them, punched one in the face, and kicked the other in the stomach. Then, I shot a bolt of lightning at them, disintegrating them. Ashley was handling one on her own, but another tried to ambush her, so I reacted quickly. I formed a sword with pointed cross-guards, charged at it, and sliced it cleanly in half. 

"Watch your back!" I shouted.

"Thanks!" She finished off the remaining one. Then, three more popped out of the bushes, so i performed a behind-the-back spin with my sword, and hit two of them at the same time. When I realized that didn't kill them, I dodged a swipe from the one on my left and formed a double barrel shotgun. I blasted them with the two shots it had, and they crumbled to dust like the others.

"All right!" we fist-bumped, and continued our walked towards the Forest Temple.

* * *

Ten minutes and the occasional Beowolf later, we arrived at the temple, where the relics, which I realized were chess pieces, sat on pedestals. 

"Huh," I said. "Some of them are gone, which means we weren't the first."

"Well," Ashley began. "We did fight a lot along the way."

"True," I said. "Which one should we take?"

She hummed contemplatively. "I think the knight." She took a black knight and put it in her dark grey skirt pocket.

"Alright, that does it!" I shouted in victory. "We got the relics!"

"They're faunus!" someone said from behind me.

I turned around to see the tall redhead and the short blonde from earlier. They were standing side by side.

"Hi there!" the now chipper blonde practically shouted. "I'm Rika Naroko!" she held out her hand for me to shake.

"Daniel Springs, nice to meet you." I shook her hand firmly. I gestured to my right. "This is Ashley Miller."

"Hey," she said coolly. 

"I'm Maria Naroko, Rika's older sister," the redhead said in a british accent. 

"I guess this means we're teammates now!" Rika shouted. "I hope we get along."

"Yes," Maria said. "And I apologize in advance. Rika can be a handful sometimes."

Rika pouted. "Don't be mean."

Suddenly, there was a loud roar coming from the right. The redhead who threw the spear at Vomit Boy emerged from the forest, a Deathstalker hot on her trail.

"¡ _Maldita sea, aquÍ vamos otra vez!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this fic and leaving kudos! On Memorial Day (tomorrow,) I'll post the third one, so you won't be waiting on a cliffhanger for long! ;)
> 
> By the way. "¡Maldita sea, aquÍ vamos otra vez!" means "God damn it, here we go again!"
> 
> 3065


	3. Initiation - Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back, with a new chapter, like I said I would be! I also made a startling realization. I, uh... I put the romance tags in the wrong place, because I thought I was putting the tags on the actual series, not this specific fic.
> 
> *cue crowd booing sound effect*
> 
> Wait, wait! Don't leave yet! I didn't say there wouldn't be romance! It just, well, won't be in this fic, because as the title says, it's only the first year. In the second year, *that's* where the romance will at least start. So at least *try* to stay with me.
> 
> By the way, when you see bold English text, that means whoever is speaking is speaking in Spanish, because I know some of you are probably too lazy to go to Google Translate, so there. An easier way to understand the dialogue.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
> 
> (This chapter is not entirely canon-compliant.)

_**Emerald Forest, Forest Temple.** _

**Daniel's POV; first person.**

_" **God damn it, here we go again!**_ _"_

The girls looked at me funny, but I just formed my gauntlets and we turned our attention to four girls and a black-haired guy who were looking at the same thing we were. The blonde and redheaded girl who gave Vomit Boy his nickname were shouting.

"I can't take it anymore!" the blonde shouted. "Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

Two seconds passed.

"Um, Yang?" the redhead said. She pointed up to the sky, and I followed her gaze to see the white haired girl holding on to the wing of a _Nevermore_.

"How could you leave me?!" she shouted.

"I said 'jump'..." the redhead said.

"She's gonna fall," the black haired girl next to them quipped.

"She'll be fine," the redhead reassured.

"She's falling," the black-haired guy said.

Then, Vomit Boy himself, who was apparently in a tree, jumped off to grab the girl as she was falling. But then he realized he couldn't fly, and fell flat on his face, while the girl landed on top of him. "My hero," the girl said sarcastically.

"My back," he said, clearly in pain.

And then, the redhead who was being chased by the Deathstalker was thrown right by everyone's feet.

"Great!" the one named Yang said. "The gang's all here! Now we can die together!"

"Not if I can help it!" the shorter redhead said confidently. She ran right towards the Deathstalker.

"Ruby, wait!" Yang cried out.

The one she called Ruby pulled out a enormous scythe, swung it behind her and shot out a sniper bullet propelling her forward, but it knocked her away with its claws.

"D-don't worry!" she called out. "Everything's... totally fine."

Then, it crept up behind her, so she shot it, but it did nothing, so she ran away.

"Alright," I said, catching everyone's attention. "She's gonna die, so I'm gonna help her."

"Ooh, who are you?" the ginger-haired girl asked.

"Daniel Springs," I said. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"Ruby!" Yang interrupted me and ran towards her, but then we all saw the same Nevermore the white haired girl was riding chasing Ruby as well. It shot its feathers at her, and one of them pinned her long red cloak to the ground. It continued shooting and nearly hit Yang.

"Ruby, get out of there!" Yang shouted.

"I'm trying!" She tugged on her cloak, but the feather was stuck to the ground. The Deathstalker crept up to her, and raised its stinger.

"RUBY!"

Suddenly, a white blur shot right over to Ruby, and right as the stinger was about to strike, ice formed in front of it, and the stinger got stuck in it.

"You are so childish," the white-haired girl, who apparently _was_ the blur, chided.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked tentatively.

"And dimwitted, and hyperactive," she continued. "And don't even get me started on your fighting style."

"Yeesh, that's a bit harsh," I mumbled to my team.

"And I suppose, I can be a bit... difficult." She leaned down at Ruby. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if _you_ quit trying to show off, I'll be..." she stood up straight again. "Nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off..." Ruby said. "I want you to know I can do this."

"You're fine," she reassured. Then she walked off.

Ruby stood up, and looked at the Deathstalker. It was struggling to break free of the ice, growling at her.

"Whoa..."

Yang ran up to her and crushed her in a hug. "So happy you're okay!"

* * *

Everyone looked up at the Nevermore above them.

"Guys, that thing's circling back," Vomit Boy said worriedly. "What are we gonna do?"

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying," Weiss said. "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right," Ruby said. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs." Everyone nodded. "There's no point in fighting these things."

"Run and live," Vomit Boy said. "That is an idea I can get behind."

Ruby and Vomit Boy each grabbed an artifact from the pedestals and nodded to each other.

"Well," I sighed, once again grabbing everyone's attention. "If you all wanna run, go right ahead. But me?" I formed my cross-guard sword and performed a sword spin. "I'm gonna fight."

"Uh, who are you?" Ruby asked.

"I'm Daniel Springs, and these are my teammates Ashley, Maria and Rika." They all waved. "Anyway, the reason why we're here at Beacon is to fight these things, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

"You can't take down a Nevermore by yourself!" Weiss shouted.

Just then, the Deathstalker starting wiggling its stinger, cracking the ice and progressing its escape.

"Time we left," the black-haired guy said firmly.

"We can handle this thing," Maria said, pulling out a sword with a huge blade.

"Yeah, you all can go on ahead!" Rika said enthusiastically, taking out a branch that grew into a bow.

Ashley pulled out her katanas. "Why did I sign up for this?"

Ruby nodded. "Okay. Be careful!" She turned to the others. "Let's go."

They went their separate ways while we stayed behind, ready for the Deathstalker. Just five seconds after they were out of earshot, it broke the ice with an ear-splitting roar.

"I don't know what your semblances are," I said to Maria and Rika. "But I hope they can come in handy right now."

The Deathstalker came after us, and we prepared for a battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes this chapter! Sorry it's so short, I just didn't have enough time to finish it. By the way, I forgot to add the little detail of Maria having a British accent, so if you didn't know, blame my mistakes because yesterday half of chapter two had gotten erased because I pressed the back button on Google when I was trying to make the Spanish upside-down exclamation point. Anyway, hope you all have a great week. BYE!


	4. Initiation - Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where things get interesting! I hope you enjoy!  
> Also, let me know if you like the current translation solution, thanks!
> 
> (This chapter is not exactly canon-compliant.)

_**Somewhere in a clearing, inside the Emerald Forest...** _

**Daniel's POV; first person.**

The Death stalker charged towards us at a steady pace, stinger poised to attack. The four of us jumped out of the way, and Maria slashed the side of it with her huge (seemingly collapsible) broadsword combined with Fire Dust. It roared in pain, and swiped at her with its stinger, but Rika shot the stinger with her bow, knocking it away. Then, vines grew from the ground and tied themselves around the stinger. I took that as my cue and jumped right on top of the Grimm, formed two swords and plunged them both into its eyes. This time, it made a loud screeching sound, and hit me with its stinger. I stumbled back a few meters, but I quickly regained my balance. Ashley jumped out from behind it and cut off the stinger. Then, Maria sliced its face right down the middle. It screeched one last time, and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"One down!" Rika said. "How many more?"

Just then, five Beowolves jumped off of a nearby tree, surrounding her and cutting off every escape opportunity she had.

"Rika!" Maria shouted. She moved to help her, but Ashley turned into a literal _shadow,_ whizzed passed Maria and killed a Beowolf, then another, and another. The last two, however, scratched her simultaneously in the back.

"Agh!" Ashley cried out in pain. She turned back into a shadow and appeared beside Maria. Rika had turned her bow into a staff with a knife embedded into the bottom. She was handling herself, but then seven more Beowolves jumped out from the bushes.

"Everyone stay together!" I yelled. But then three Alpha Beowolves snuck up from behind me and struck me multiple times in the back, sending me several yards away from my teammates.

"Daniel!" all three of them cried. They tried to run towards me, but the Grimm were still attacking. Ashley and Maria took out three Beowolves, but then an Ursa Minor joined the fray. From what I could tell, they were barely handling their own.

I stood up, brushing off my hoodie, and threw my sword into the ground with a loud thud, attracting the attention of every Grimm around me.

"Hey!" I shouted.

Everything was silent, save for the low growling of the Grimm, so I close my eyes and concentrated. I heard the air crackling around me, and I formed the crystal gauntlets and shins. When I opened my eyes, I took out my scroll and looked at my reflection. My hair was sky blue, and my eyes were red. I smirked, and put it back in my pocket. "You want a piece of me?" The Grimm growled deeply and prepared to pounce.

"Come and get me."

They _all_ ran at me, and I got to work. With my cross-guard sword, I spun it around and sliced one Beowolf in half, while two more of them jumped me from the side. I formed two double-barrel shotguns and killed them both with a single blast from each of the guns. the remaining four Beowolves were cautious about approaching me, so I just shot them from where I was standing, killing two of them. The guns were empty, so I formed a M1 Garand rifle and shot them all consecutively in their heads. The Alphas charged me, claws raised, so I formed my sword. "Bring it on."

They charged right at me, and my smirk just grew wider. I spun the sword multiple times, fending off the sharp claws of the Alphas, then ran straight at one with a boost of lightning and plunged my sword into its face, killing it. The second Alpha swiped at me three times, but I dodged all of them, sliced off its arm and stabbed it right through the chest. The Ursa Minor barreled straight into me, and I stumbled away, but I just growled and struck it with a bolt of lightning, completely frying it.

I heard the Nevermore from before land right in front of me, screeching loudly at me. "That was rude. Let me correct your MANNERS!" I lunged towards it, grabbing on to its feathers when it took off. I stabbed my sword repeatedly into the neck, but that just angered it, and it tried to shake me off. I lost my balance, and almost fell off the side, if not for me digging my sword into its side. _Alright, time to actually kill this thing._ I mustered up as much electricity as I had gathered while fighting the prior Grimm, and shot straight up into the air. I channeled the rest of my electricity into my fist, and nosedived at the Nevermore, fist raised, and as soon as my fist collided with its back, an enormous waved of electricity, charged with enough energy to power a village for a week, pulsed from where my fist connected. It was enough to make the Nevermore explode from the inside out, and I fell from under it. I used my landing strategy to get down to the ground safely, and I landed with my back towards the girls. I turned around and greeted them with a smirk.

"I got a bad-ass semblance, right?" I asked them.

They were silent for a moment, and then they erupted into a cacophony of questions.

"How did you do that?!" Rika shouted.

"What was that blast?!" Ashley asked.

"What in the hell is your semblance?!" Maria demanded.

I released my excess energy, and I took the chess piece out of my pocket. "I'll explain it to you on the way. For now, we have a relic to return."

* * *

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Headmaster Ozpin said. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team CRDL (Cardinal,) led by Cardin Winchester." The audience applauded them. "Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as... Team JNPR (Juniper,) led by Jaune Arc." They applauded even louder.

"H-huh?" Jaune stuttered. "Led by...?"

"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin said. Pyrrha punched Jaune's shoulder, and he fell over.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as... Team RWBY (Ruby,) led by Ruby Rose."

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang shouted and hugged Ruby.

"Ashley Miller, Daniel Springs, Maria Naroko, Rika Naroko. The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you shall be known as... Team DAMN (Diamond,) led by Daniel Springs."

Rika fist bumped all of us. "We made it!"

"Finally, Neon Annorose, Nicole Annorose, Valerie Simmons, John Hawkin."

_What?!_

The four of you retrieved the black rook pieces. From this day forward, you shall be known as... Team JASN (Jasmine,) led by John Hawkin."

A orange-haired fox faunus pumped his fist, and high-fived his teammates, one of them was a short girl with pink eyes and same colored hair in a braid, the other was a lookalike of the first, only she had brown hair and yellow eyes, and the other was a girl as tall as John, with navy blue hair in a bob cut and deep blue eyes.

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year." Ozpin said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Daniel knows this John dude. Who could he be? Find out next time!
> 
> (Also, please comment and tell me what you think so far!)


	5. An Old Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I know this note is a lot longer than it should be, but please, bear with me and read through it. It's kinda important.)
> 
> And I'm back! With more than just a chapter! I made the female O.C.s of this fanfiction with picrew.me! Except for Valerie, I made her and John on Anime Face Maker Go! I posted them on Instagram, so here is the link to that post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBEQhKHHFRh/
> 
> There is one thing that you should know about the female characters, and that would be their breast sizes. Why? Because a( it's important and insignificant at the same time. b( It kinda matters later in this story, and quite frequently. And c( I'm a pervert :D
> 
> Here is a link to a DeviantArt post, an Anime Boob Chart Go check out the artist, because I have to give credit where credit is due:  
> https://www.deviantart.com/aliciarflowright/art/Boob-Chart-2-215831250
> 
> After you look at that and the names at the bottom of the image, here are the sizes of each character, from smallest to biggest: Nicole Annorose; Flat. Neon Annorose; Immature. Maria Naroko; Standard. Ashley Miller and Valerie Simmons; Bountiful. Rika Naroko; Bouncy. None of my characters are Negative.
> 
> Anyway, we're almost done here, but I must express my gratitude to THE 77 PEOPLE WHO HAVE READ THIS STORY AHHH--
> 
> Ahem. Almost lost my cool there. Anyway, I hope you read through this entire note! Enjoy the story, and let me know what you think about the current translation solution in the comments. And by the way, this chapter is the longest one so far, so you're welcome!
> 
> (This chapter is not exactly canon-compliant.)

_**Beacon Academy, Team Dorms.** _

_**Daniel's POV; first person.** _

I woke up from a relatively peaceful and dreamless sleep and looked around the dorm. To my left was a kitchen area with no door, and inside were four long cabinets in a row. Under those, there was a Dust-powered stove oven with a refrigerator to its right, and finally, a moderately sized sink with a long faucet. To my far right was an open door, which was a semi-large walk-in closet with four sections for each person. Next to it was a door that I assumed was the bathroom. Lastly, I found I was not the first one to wake up. Maria was already dressed, Ashley just got out of the bathroom, and Rika was still in her pajamas. Maria turned and looked at me. "You're finally awake."

 _Wait, 'finally'?_ I looked at my watch. 8:15. _Crap! Only forty-five minutes until class starts!_ I leaped out of my bed, grabbed my first-day uniform, and dashed into the bathroom. _Some team leader I am!_ I brushed my teeth, showered, got dressed, and fixed up my hair as quickly and efficiently as I could, then ran back into the bedrooms. I looked at my watch. 8:30 am. "Ready!"

Rika dashed past me. "My turn!" 

Ashley turned towards me. "How much time do you think she'll take in there?"

"Honestly," I shrugged. "I'm thinking that she'll cut it right down to the wire."

Maria nodded. "She usually does. I don't know how."

I looked around the dorm The walls were pretty blank, save for a Holo-TV on the far wall. _This place could use some decorations. But we'll save that for after class._ In the little spare time I had before having to leave for class, I made my bed neatly and fluffed up my pillow. Shortly after, Rika came out of the bathroom wearing an outfit similar to the one she was wearing yesterday, but this time she had a green plastic headband right on the top of her head. "I'm ready? What's our first class?"

Ashley picked up a schedule. "We have one with Professor Port at 9:00 am."

"And it is currently..." I looked at my watch. "8:53 am! We gotta go!"

We all jumped to our feet and ran out the door like the Grimm themselves were chasing us. On the way, we caught up with Teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Oh, hey guys!" I shouted. "Late too?"

Weiss was the first to reply. "Only because these dunces decided to build bunk beds!"

"We put it to a vote!" Ruby yelled.

"Oh, by the way, Weiss!" I remembered. "I really did take down a Nevermore by myself, so ha!"

"Not the time for--"

"What?!" Yang shouted. "What are you?!"

This continued for a few minutes, and we passed Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch themselves. They observed us, and Ozpin just sipped his mug.

* * *

"Monsters!" Port shouted. "Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I merely refer to them as prey. Ha-ha!" He laughed at his own joke, but nobody else did. Meanwhile, I was spinning a pencil around in my hands, _incredibly_ bored. _I knew school could be boring, but damn, this guy takes the cake!_

"And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy. Now as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces. And that's where we come in. Huntsman! Huntresses!" He clicked his tongue at all the ladies in the room. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves." I rolled my eyes, having heard this before. "From what you ask?" _But I didn't._ "Why, the very world!" A single student in the back cheered. "That is what you are training to become. But first, a story." _Oh, Dust._ "A tale of a young, handsome man. Me. When I was a boy..."

My ears picked up on Rika whispering to me. "Hey, is this guy boring or what?"

I just nodded my head, not taking my attention away from the pencil I was spinning.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter,' he told me..."

I heard Ruby and Yang laughing, with Weiss glaring daggers at both of them, when Professor Port cleared his throat, and they went silent.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity. And I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high. Celebrated, as a hero." He bowed down. "The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable. A true huntsman must be dependable. A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss threw her hand up angrily. "I do, sir!"

"Well then, let's find out." A cage started rattling beside Professor Port. "Step forward and face your opponent."

_Why the hell do we have Grimm inside of the school?!_

Weiss walked over and assumed a battle-ready stance, raising her rapier. The Grimm screeched inside the cage.

"Goo, Weiss!" Yang cheered.

"Fight well!" Blake encouraged.

"Yeah, represent Team RWBY!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby, I'm trying to focus!" Weiss chided.

"Oh, um, sorry," she said.

"Alright, let the match," he raised his ax. "Begin!" He sliced the cage open, and a Boarbatusk charged out of it, heading straight for Weiss. She dodge-rolled to its right, striking its side, but that didn't even faze it. It whirled around and stood defensively.

"Haha, wasn't expecting that, were you?" The professor asked.

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby yelled.

Weiss used her glyphs to propel herself towards the Grimm and thrust her rapier at its face, but it quickly parried and slammed into her, knocking her off balance. She held on to the rapier, but it was now lodged in between the Grimm's large tusks.

'Bold, new approach," The professor observed. "I like it!"

She was struggling to reclaim her weapon from the Grimm, and Ruby cheered her on again. "Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!"

She turned around angrily to face Ruby, which was a big mistake, as the Boarbatusk took advantage of her distraction and threw her rapier towards the far side of the classroom. It then slammed into her once again and she was knocked back a few meters.

"Oho," the professor, whose commentary was getting on my nerves. "Now what will you do without your weapon?"

She was on all fours, panting. She looked up to see the Grimm charging towards her and just barely rolled out of the way in time. It crashed into the wall, and she ran towards her rapier that was on the floor. She slid across the floor, swiping her rapier back. 

"Weiss, go for its belly!" Ruby yelled. "There's no armor underneath--"

"Stop telling me what to do!" she finally snapped.

Ruby's face morphed from excited to dejected in a matter of two seconds. _Sweet Dust, the Ice Queen is harsh._

The Grimm roared and turned into a spinning ball of death and bolted straight towards Weiss. She created a vertical blue glyph which it crashed into, flipping it on its belly and stunning it briefly. Those precious seconds were all she needed as she backflipped onto a black glyph behind her and launched herself off of it, impaling the Grimm in its stomach. She was out of breath at this point.

"Bravo!" the professor shouted. "Bravo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training. I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings and stay vigilant. Class dismissed." And with that, Weiss walked away aggravated. 

"Sheesh," Vomit Boy, whose name I found out is Jaune. "What's with her?"

* * *

Everyone walked out of class, and we followed suit, but I noticed a head of orange hair with fox ears, so I decided to do what I remembered doing all those years ago.

"John 'Hot Boy' Hawkin, is that you?!"

He stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned around. "Oh my gosh, Daniel 'Static' Springs?!" We both ran towards each other and crushed each other in a bear hug. "It's been so long!"

I laughed. "Yeah, it has! Seven years is too long!"

Our teams stopped to look at us weirdly, so I explained. "This is my best friend, John Hawkin. I've known him pretty much all my life."

Ashley nodded. "I get that, but why did you call him 'Hot Boy', and why did he call you 'Static'?"

John and I just laughed. "We gave each other nicknames after finding out our semblances."

"What's his semblance?" Rika asked.

"Watch." John held out his hands. "Look closely." They all stepped forward. _Oh, no._ "Closer." They took another step. "Closer." They were practically a foot away from his hands, and suddenly they exploded, literally. Ashley, Maria, and Rika jumped in surprise, probably having experienced astral projection. Meanwhile, John and I were laughing our asses off. 

"I knew you would do that!" I shouted

"It works, every time!" John gasped between laughs.

"What the hell?!" Maria screamed.

The navy-haired girl just shook her head. "He did that to us as well."

John and I stopped laughing after a few minutes. "Whew. Anyway, I take it you're Valerie?"

She nodded. "That would be me! Valerie Simmons of Team JASN!"

I pointed at the pink-haired girl. "Neon?" She nodded. I looked at the brown-haired girl. "And Nicole." She waved. "So you guys are twins?"

"Yup," said Nicole.

"Nice, I got it right."

John tapped me on the shoulder. "Now, _who_ are these smoking hot ladies?"

I shook my head. "That's Ashley Miller, and that's Rika Naroko and her older sister, Maria Naroko." They all waved at him. "Now, onto the important stuff." I looked at John's teammates. "What are your semblances?"

Valerie went first. "I can phase through many things. Walls, Floors, even things like handcuffs."

"That's bad-ass," I approved. "What about you two?"

"I can read anyone's thoughts and talk to them through said thoughts," Nicole stated. "And Neon here can read their emotions."

"Really?" I asked, skeptical. "What am I thinking about right now?"

She concentrated for a moment. "Fighting us all, seven-on-one."

My eyes went wide with shock. "Damn!"

John smiled. "Yeah, that's your team name!" We both laughed and high-fived. "But seriously, why the hell are you thinking about a seven-on-one?"

I shrugged. "Just testing her."

Valerie smiled. What are your semblances?"

Ashley went first this time. "I can control the darkness. I can make things, travel, or hide. And you'll never know I'm there." As she was saying that, she started fading away into the darkness until she was completely gone.

"Where did she go?!" Rika shouted.

Then, she reappeared right behind John. "Boo!"

He jumped about six feet away from her. "What the hell?!"

She smirked, satisfied. "That was revenge."

I was clapping. "You got what you deserved!"

Maria rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "My semblance allows me to control Dust. I can amplify its power, solidify and powderize it, and use it in battle, or for other various purposes."

Rika jumped up and down. "My semblance is Nature! I can talk to plants, and ask them for help when in battle! I can also help them grow, and distinguish different species and their properties just by looking at them! So I wanna be a combat medic!"

John didn't seem like he was looking at Rika's eyes while she was jumping, so I followed his gaze to her voluptuous chest, stared for just a second, then swatted his shoulder and whispered "Not a good time, bro." He just chuckled, until Maria looked at him suspiciously. He just shrugged at her and turned back to me to whisper. "How the hell did she get boobs so big?!"

"I don't know," I whispered back. "But what I do know is that Ashley can hear us, and the twins can read our minds, which is our worst nightmare, so hush!"

To prove my point, Ashley looked at us with a chiding look and a slight blush.

"Oh, come on!" he whispered again. "You can't say that you aren't tempted to look at them!"

"I didn't say I wasn't, but unlike you, I'm not going to blatantly act on that temptation!"

He then had an idea. "Let's think and speak in the Patch language so they can't understand!"

He had a point, so we switched languages and spoke aloud. " **Do any of you understand Patch?** "

They all looked at us like we grew a second head, with Neon, Nicole, and Ashley giving us looks that said 'We know what you're doing'.

"What language is that?" Valerie asked.

"Our parents spoke Patch a lot," he responded. "So we learned it too."

"Oh, nice!" she said.

He turned back to me. " **Anyway, just look at those things! They're huge!** "

I glared at him. " **I know! But not right now! They're gonna find out what we're trying to do! Especially** "—I looked at Maria from the corner of my eye—" **Especially the redhead, whose name I cannot say without her figuring out what we're doing!** "

He sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll try not to."

Nicole spoke up, very suspicious. "What was that about?"

"Nothing!" John shouted. "We were just talking about how long it's been since we saw each other last!"

" **They know, John,** " I said. _Just play along for now, please._ I tried to get my thoughts across to them.

They dropped it and we continued walking towards our next class.

* * *

Lunch finally arrived, and so did the empty stomachs of Beacon. Team JASN sat with Team DAMN, with RWBY and JNPR behind us.

"You seriously took down seven Beowolves, three Alphas, an Ursa Minor, _and_ a Nevermore? _By yourself?!_ "

The teams behind us heard what he shouted, and most of them stared at me, slack-jawed. "That can't be true!" Nora yelled.

Ashley nodded. "Believe it or not, he actually did."

"How?!" Weiss practically shrieked.

"I got a bad-ass semblance, that's how," I responded, letting my big ego shine through.

"Sorry, but I won't believe it until I see it," Yang said. 

I laughed. "Well, after school we could head down into the Emerald Forest so I can prove it."

"Yeah!" Nora shouted. "Let's do it!"

Maria facepalmed. "Do you _want_ to die?"

"Wait, Nicole can prove it!" John shouted. "She can tell when people are lying!"

Nicole shrugged. "Okay." She walked over to me, and held her hand in front of my head, concentrating. After a moment, she opened her eyes wide. "What the hell is your semblance?!"

"I already told you guys!" I laughed.

"Is it true? Pyrrha asked.

"Yes!" she shouted. "He took out all of those Grimm by himself! And he turned his hair blue!"

"Okay, now _this,_ I wanna see," Yang jumped out of her seat and stood in front of me. "Change your hair!"

I smirked, discreetly forming a crystal chest plate. "Punch me with all you have."

"Alright," she said. She pulled her fist back and struck me with what felt like two trains going eighty miles per hour. "What?!"

I closed my eyes as the air crackled around me. I opened them again, and a significantly smaller electricity wave pulsed from within me. I saw my hair in the corner of my eye and smirked. "This, this is my semblance."

"It's like mine!" Yang yelled.

"Yeah, kind of." I turned my hair brown but kept the energy. "Thanks for that. Now I have it all stored up."

They all just stared at me, and I just kept eating my lunch.

 _Combat class with them is gonna be a_ _blast._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this! it should hold you until the next time I post! Also, if you read through the note, looked at the characters cards and their breast chart (which I *really* hope you did,) Fell free to follow me on Instagram if you want! You don't have to, because I don't post very often. Anyway, until next time!
> 
> 3065


	6. An Exciting Duel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back? Me! And we're almost at 100 hits!  
> I apologize for Daniel's (My) huge ego, He's just very strong.  
> Also, I do hope you didn't get discouraged from reading after you saw the breast chart (if you saw the breast chart,) but it gets better! I promise!  
> Anyway, onward to the chapter!  
> (This chapter is a mix of canon and non-canon.)

_**Beacon Academy, Hallway.** _

_**Daniel's POV; first person.** _

My team and I were walking to the next class of the day, with Rika chatting our ears off. "Who do you want to fight first, Daniel?" she asked.

"I'm thinking Yang," I responded. "She's apparently one of the strongest students here, and I always want to go for the top."

"I wanna fight Nora, I think it'll be fun!" Rika said.

"You can decide who you fight when the time comes," Maria reminded us. "No need to stress over it now." But then we arrived at our next class, Combat Training class.

"Actually, Combat class is next," Ashley pointed out.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Maria said sarcastically.

We headed inside to see Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester fighting on the arena in front of us and a bunch of other students. Cardin won as soon as we came in, and we heard a buzzer.

"That's enough," Professor Goodwitch said. " Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." She turned to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy." He sighed. "We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself," Cardin picked up his mace and walked away.

"We have time for one more duel," she said. "Would anyone like to participate?"

I raised my hand. "I would, professor."

"Wonderful. Does anyone want to duel Mr. Springs?"

Yang raised her hand "Me!"

"Alright, come up here, and the match shall begin." We both started walking towards Professor Goodwitch and stood opposite of each other, making direct eye contact. "Are the opponents ready?" We nodded without looking away. "Alright, the match shall begin in three... two... one... begin!"

Yang used her gauntlet to shoot herself forward, and raised her fist to strike me, but I simply sidestepped and formed gauntlets of my own. She turned around, jumped high above me and tried to slam her fists into the ground where I was, but I jumped away, unfazed.

"Come on!" Yang shouted. "Fight me! You said you took down a Nevermore by yourself!" She shot at me, but I just blocked them with my hands. "You really want me to fight? Fine." I stood still, hands at my hips, and smirked. "Come and get me."

She growled, and barreled towards me, punching me square in the chest, but I didn't move an inch. Instead, I returned fire with a powerful punch of my own, which sent her across the whole arena. I formed my cross-guard sword and spun it like I always did. "Let's play for real."

"Don't get cocky!" she once again ran towards me, but as I sidestepped again, she predicted that and socked me across the jaw, spinning me three-hundred sixty degrees, and shot me in the stomach. As I was stumbling, she grabbed my arm and threw me close to the edge of the arena. I landed on my back, and she was standing over me.

"Sorry about that, lost my cool for a second." she grinned at me.

"I wouldn't worry about that," I pointed out.

"What?"

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, my hair was blue, and a wave of electricity pulsed outwards from me, knocking her back a few steps. I pushed myself up to my feet and assumed a battle stance. "Thanks for the friction. Let me repay you." I ran so fast at her it was like I teleported, and struck her with my sword, taking a chunk of her Aura away. She activated her semblance, and I had to jump away to avoid getting burned from the flames on her hair. She started throwing punches at me so fast, and I was having a bit of a hard time dodging them all, so she hit me a couple of times. I somersaulted behind her, formed a double barrel shotgun and blasted her in the back.

"That was a cheap shot!" she rapidly shot multiple Dust rounds from her gauntlets, and hit me a couple of times, but my Aura was still above three quarters. I shot a bolt of electricity towards her, but she absorbed most of it, and used it against me by punching my jaw yet again. I backed away and formed a TEC-9 machine pistol and shot at her from a distance. I hit her a couple of times, but she just kept on getting stronger.

"That's a real nice semblance you got," I praised her. "But I'm sure mine is still better." I switched out my pistol for the same shotgun and ran towards her. She was ready to block, but I jumped and shot at the ground, the insanely powerful recoil boosting me into the air, where I landed on a crystal platform in the air, which I jumped off of and shot at her this time, boosting myself up even more. After I had enough altitude, I fell towards her, and my fist collided with her. As it did, I released all of the energy I had stored up, and that took away half of her Aura, which was evident, because she stumbled back a bit. "Damn, that was a powerful punch. Not sure I can win this one, but I'll still try." With all of her remaining energy, she flared up her hair and ran towards me, and I tried to dodge, but she shot me in the face and roundhouse kicked me in the back. That actually took off a decent sized chunk of my Aura. I checked my scroll, it showed my Aura was in the yellow. _I can still fight, but I've got to be careful. She's almost out, but she won't go down without trying something as a last-ditch effort. Luckily, I still have a nice trick up my sleeve._ I focused on my sword, which shattered in my hands. Then I formed a hollow hilt of a sword. I focused a lot of electrical energy into the hilt, and out came a long, thick line of electricity literally buzzing with energy. Or, in other words, an electric lightsaber.

"Dude, how did you do that?!" Yang asked.

I shrugged. "Practice." I rushed at her and swung the saber at her, and she dodged, so I swung again, but this time, the saber passed right through her stomach and she froze in her tracks. She was visibly struggling to move, but she had been paralyzed by the electricity of the lightsaber. Her aura was in the orange, so I channeled all of my energy into my fist and struck her across the jaw, and everyone heard the buzz that meant Yang had been defeated. I looked at Team JASN and JNPR, all of whom were staring at me with their mouths open. I looked back at Yang, who was able to move again.

"Well," I began with a smirk. "Wasn't that _shocking?"_

She started laughing. "You're instantly my friend!"

Everyone else groaned.

* * *

"That was so cool!" Valerie shouted. "You paralyzed her!"

"That was a pretty good fight," Ashley said.

"Now I believe that you fought off a horde of Grimm by yourself!" Nora yelled.

"I don't," Weiss said. "I will have to see it to believe it."

We walked towards the dorms, and parted ways once we arrived. My team and I looked around our dorm.

"This needs some serious decorating," we all said in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried not to make the MCs OOC, let me know if I did it right!


	7. Showing Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I got a new chapter for y'all! But first, I have to say something.
> 
> WE HIT 114 HITS ON THIS FIC! OH MY GOD THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS MANY PEOPLE WOULD READ THIS FIC AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> Ahem. Sorry about that, lost control again.
> 
> All jokes aside, thank you all for reading this, even if you didn't read all the way through. I hope you'll comment and give me your honest opinion on this fic.
> 
> But enough of that, enjoy the chapter!
> 
> (This chapter is not canon-compliant.)

**_Beacon Academy, Team DAMN's room._ **

****

**_Daniel's POV; first person._ **

****

"This needs some serious decorating."

We all looked around our dorm room, which was empty save for the Holo-TV, a few shelves, and four beds lined up side-by-side with nightstands next to each one.

"I call the fourth bed!" Rika shouted.

"We've already slept in different beds," Maria pointed out. 

"I mean, we could switch beds if we wanted to," I said.

"Let's put it to a vote," Ashley concluded. "If you want to switch beds, raise your hand." Me, Rika and Ashley raised our hands. "I guess we win. I call second bed."

"And I call first," I said. "That leaves Maria with the third one."

She groaned. "Fine, whatever. We still have to decorate."

"Well, I know how I'm gonna decorate," I said. "What about you guys?"

"I have books I can put on those shelves," Ashley said.

"And I have some posters!" Rika grabbed her luggage.

"And I have my homework and makeup supplies," Maria pointed to the suitcase near her nightstand.

"Well," I clapped my hands. "Time to decorate!"

* * *

After thirty minutes, we all stood back and admired our work. The first bed's nightstand had a laptop and homework stuff on top, and above the headboard was a poster of Beacon Academy. The second bed's nightstand had four bookmarked books on top, with an alarm clock in front of them. She also called dibs on the bookshelf, and it was absolutely packed with such a large amount of books that I'm pretty sure she bought them when we were decorating, as there is no way all of that fit in her suitcase. The third bed was very neat, as it had a mirror at the wall, and various makeup items put in specific places that made whoever looked at it think Maria had OCD. And the fourth bed... was kind of chaotic. Above the headboard, she had a poster of some anime I've never heard of before, and her nightstand had a bunch of female anime figurines and mangas, and notebooks were scattered everywhere. 

In other words, it was _perfect_ for us.

"That's a job well done, if I say so myself," I applauded.

"It really suits our different personalities," Ashley said.

"We all have our own space now," Maria pointed out.

"Yay!" Rika cried.

"And," I checked my watch. "It's only 4:35pm!"

We heard a knock at the door, and I opened it to see Team JASN standing there.

"Yes?" I asked, confused.

"You said you would show everyone how you took down a large horde of Grimm, remember?" John reminded me.

"Oh, wow! I completely forgot about that!" I exclaimed. I turned towards my team. "Now that we're done decorating, let's get Team RWBY and JNPR, so I can put on my show."

We walked to Team JNPR's dorm first, and I knocked twice. Ren opened the door. "Hello, Daniel. Can I help you?"

"Well," I began. "You guys didn't believe me when I said I took down a Nevermore by myself, so I was gonna go to the Emerald Forest to show Team JASN what I could do. "Wanna come watch?"

Nora immediately popped up behind Ren and yelled "Let's go!" before dragging Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren behind her, most likely headed towards the aforementioned forest.

"I... guess we'll meet them there?" John half asked. I just shrugged and headed towards Team RWBY's dorm.

"I wanna knock!" Rika said. She knocked five times, and Yang answered the door. "Hey, guys. What can I do for you today?"

"Daniel's gonna go fight a bunch of Grimm to prove a point," John explained. "We were gonna ask if you and your team wants to watch him, because there's nothing he loves more than an audience watching him show off."

I hit John on the head. "Ow! What? It's true!"

Yang just chuckled. "We'll be there. Just give us a few minutes." She closed the door.

"Alright, let's go!" Rika shouted.

* * *

We all arrived at the Emerald Forest, and we already heard Grimm howling in the distance. 

"Alright," Weiss said. "Now what?"

I smirked. "Now I call over a bunch of Grimm."

"Wait, _what?!"_

I turned my hair blue, and formed my cross-guard sword. I inhaled deeply, and then I screamed as plunged my sword in the ground, and a lightning bolt from the sky struck me, charging me with more energy by the second. When I ran out of air, I stopped and pulled my sword out of the ground.

"And now we wait."

We didn't have to wait very long, because four Beowolves jumped out from the bushes and surrounded me. One of them jumped out at me, and I sliced it in half. Two more jumped at me from the front and back, so I ducked, and they crashed into each other. The last one circled around me, waiting for the right time to strike. What I didn't know was that it was stalling for its pack, and I realized that too late as an Alpha Beowolf slashed me in the back.

"Daniel!" Valerie cried.

I got up and stretched my back, then spun my sword. "Didn't see that one coming." I formed a double barrel shotgun and blasted the Alpha twice in the face, but it wasn't fazed much by it. It charged towards me, and I rolled out of the way. I leapt towards the Alpha and threw my sword like a spear, right through its mouth, vaporizing it.

"Is that all?" Nora asked, confused.

I smirked again, and formed a literal _mini-gun,_ spraying five hundred bullets up into the sky in under thirty seconds.

" _Damn,_ Daniel," Yang shouted. "Why'd you do that?"

Howls and screeches were heard in the distance, coming closer with each second.

I pointed up. "That's why."

Up in the sky, a Nevermore screeched at me, along with four Alphas and an Ursa Minor.

"Now _this_ is a challenge."

I ran at an Alpha, jumped on top of it and decapitated it. Then I threw my sword at the next one, stabbing it in the eye. I formed my shotgun and blasted myself off of the first, then formed three shurikens and threw them at the third. I landed on my feet behind the fourth, and jabbed my sword right in its back. I then formed two double barrel shotguns and shot twice underneath me to boost me over the Ursa. I landed behind it and blasted it twice more, killing it. I shattered the shotguns and formed my sword again, but then I just narrowly missed getting clawed by the Nevermore that was still above me. It went back up, but so did I. I formed small platforms to boost me up, shattering the ones I jumped off of. I passed the Nevermore in height, but it flew after me, way up high. When I decided I was high enough, I charged up all of my energy and blasted the Nevermore to pieces with a very powerful bolt of lightning. When I fell, I formed a long platform as I went down, making it disappear as I go. Near the ground, I made it do a loop and jumped off of it, doing a triple backflip, and landing with my fist on the ground. I dispersed the remaining electric energy that turned my hair blue, and looked at the four teams.

"Do you believe me now?" I eyed them all.

They all looked at me wide-eyed, and John was laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"You are such a showoff!" he gasped out. Then the rest of his team started laughing, and my team as well. Soon, we were all laughing at my smugness.

"Well, we better get back to Beacon," Blake said. "Or Professor Goodwitch will have our heads."

"Good point," Nicole said. "Let's go."

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Ruby shouted, then she disappeared in a blur of rose petals.

"Wait for me!" Rika yelled after her.

"I'm gonna beat you all!" John screamed as he used his explosions to race after them. 

"I'm not gonna lose again!" Yang used her gauntlets to propel herself.

I looked at the rest. "Well, I'm not losing, that's for sure." So I used my lightning to give myself am enormous speed boost.

Ruby still won the race, though. And Maria was last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should be the last chapter in Daniel's POV, but I can't make any promises. Sorry for the arrogance, but that's how Daniel is. I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Let me know what you thought, please!


	8. Self Defense - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I've got something to say to you all;
> 
> HOW IN THE HELL DID I GET 41 MORE HITS SINCE LAST WEEK?! THANK YOU!
> 
> I also found several mistakes that I didn't even know about, and another mistake in chapter 5's end note. That's supposed to say "Feel free", not "Fell free". I swear, typos will be the death of me. 
> 
> I know I said this chapter will be longer, and that it would be the last one in Daniel's POV, but that might not be the case. I promise next week you'll get a long chapter that switches POV. Remind me not to make any promises, besides the one I made about posting chapters.
> 
> Now, a quick side note: I'm going to go back and rename all of the chapters. This is something I meant to do but completely forgot about. So you might want to go back real quick and see the names :).
> 
> Anyway, I don't have any jokes to make right now, so enjoy the story!

_**Beacon Academy, Team DAMN's dorm.** _

**_Daniel's POV; first person._ **

After we raced back to Beacon, not much more happened besides me getting a scolding for attracting that many Grimm. It wasn't a big deal, but Professor Goodwitch warned me about pulling something like that in the future. She was impressed, however. After that, we had dinner and headed straight to bed. So now, after the first few classes, I was currently at the lunch table with my team and John's team.

"So where do you live now, John?" I asked.

"We're still in the same place!" he answered. "You're the only one that moved!"

"Wait, really?!"

"Yeah! It's still the north side of Patch!" he shouted.

"How are your parents?" I asked. 

He shrugged. "They're pretty good. I told them yesterday that I met you again. They were surprised and excited to see you again. We should call them after school, so you can give them an update about how life has been the last seven years."

"Speaking of that," I remembered. "I haven't made any vlogs about my life here at Beacon in a while."

"You make vlogs?" Valerie asked, surprised.

"Yeah, haven't made any in a while, though. When I do, I send them to my parents. What do you guys like to do?"

Valerie went first. "I like to dance, and I sing from time to time.

"I like playing video games with Nicole," Neon said. "And drawing."

"And I love my sniper," Nicole picked up a Beretta .50 Cal sniper rifle.

"Holy crap!" I shouted. "That's awesome!"

She smirked. "That's not all." She pressed a small yellow button on the side on the scope, and it started shifting into a Colt M16 Carbine rifle.

"You made that yourself?!" Rika asked.

"Yep. I named it, too." She mounted the rifle on her shoulder. "Big Bang."

"Bad-ass name, too," John praised.

We heard some laughing from a table behind us. I looked around and saw the guy named Cardin Winchester laughing at a brown haired rabbit faunus girl.

"Uh-oh," John said. "Asshole alert, six o'clock."

"I see him," I knit my eyebrows. I saw Ashley's ears fold in the corner of my eye.

"Only cowards make fun of others," Neon stated.

I was getting ready to intervene, but John looked me in the eyes and shook his head. "Not now."

"Ow!" the faunus girl cried out.

We all turned and saw Cardin pulling on her ear, then he turned to his friends. "I told you it was real!"

I looked at Team RWBY and JNPR's table, and they were just watching as it happened. I shook my head. "Sorry, John, but I'm going, and you can't stop me."

I walked over to Cardin, my face eerily calm." Hey!"

Cardin turned to me. "Oh, look, another dirty faunus!"

I crossed my arms. "Leave her alone."

He laughed. "Or what? You're gonna bark at me? Or better yet, get your fox friend and show me what the fox _really_ says?" His whole team laughed. 

"You're gonna regret that, asshole," I said nonchalantly.

He growled and turned to his team. "Take care of this bitch."

They started to corner me, and I was just whistling. That made Dove agitated, so he shot a bullet at me from his sword. I easily caught it with my thumb and index finger. "Wow. Shooting in the cafeteria. You guys are gonna get in trouble." 

Sky picked up a halberd-looking weapon and swung it at me, but I grabbed the blade with crystal gauntlets that I formed at the last second. I pulled it from his grasp and tossed it to the floor. Then, Russel pulled out two strange looking daggers with Dust chambers and threw one at me. I caught it in my hand as well, but that turned out to be a mistake, as it shot Fire Dust in my face. I stumbled around blindly, and Dove whacked me across the face with the flat of his blade. I regained my vision, and I got up from the floor. "Now you've all done it." I formed the double barrel shotgun and charged it with electricity, and blasted Russel and Sky in their guts. Then I hit Dove with a bolt of lightning, knocking him on the floor.

Cardin got up from his seat and groaned. "I have to do everything myself." He picked up his mace and ran at me, but I simply dodged all of his attacks. He then quickly pointed it at me, and it exploded in my face, Fire Dust blinding me yet again. He hit me in the back with an explosion, sending me halfway across the cafeteria.

"How does that feel, Springs?" he asked me.

I got up and dusted myself off, and turned my hair blue with an electric pulse. "Pretty good, actually." I leapt at him and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Now, if you lay a hand on that girl again, I will hurt you. Got it?"

He growled and raised his hands, so I let him go. "Don't try that shit again."

I turned around and gave the rabbit faunus a thumbs-up, but her face quickly shifted from thankful to scared. "Behind you!"

I turned around just in time to get knocked out by a punch from Cardin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger?! Oh no!
> 
> Next week will be a long chapter.
> 
> I hope.


	9. Self Defense - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter! Unlike every other time I've written a note, I have nothing much to say except for the fact that I found out FNAF 6 was free and I'm gonna crap my pants while playing it :D  
> Enjoy the chapter!

**_Beacon Academy, Cafeteria._ **

**Ashley’s POV; first person.**

“Serves you right, faunus trash.”

Everyone watched in horror as Daniel fell to the floor, unconscious. Cardin had a grin on his face, and the rabbit faunus girl was in tears. Yet, everyone in the cafeteria just sat still, in fear of becoming the next victim. And Cardin just sat back down.

“Daniel!” John cried out as he ran over and crouched down beside him.

“Someone get Professor Goodwitch!” Maria shouted.

A few students ran towards the Teacher’s Lounge, and Rika went to help John carry Daniel to the infirmary. Valerie tapped me on the shoulder. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

I nodded tentatively. “He’s strong, which is why I don’t understand why he got knocked out by a single punch.”

Nicole shook her head. “People like that disgust me. They just love to hurt people for the fun of it.”

Professor Goodwitch’s voice echoed over the entire school. “Team CRDL, report to the headmaster’s office immediately!”

Team CRDL all got up nervously, most likely worried for the near future ahead of them, as they should be.

“Shouldn’t we go and check on Daniel?” Neon asked. 

“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s go.”

We got up, our lunches long forgotten, and headed towards the infirmary.

* * *

We saw Daniel sitting up on the bed, talking and laughing with John as if nothing had happened.

“What the hell is going on?!” Maria asked. “Weren’t you _just_ punched in the face?!”

Daniel laughed. “Well, yeah, and it did hurt a lot, but I exaggerated it.” He looked at us in mock offense. “You really think, with my semblance, that weak punch of his would knock _me_ out?” He scoffed. “Have a little faith!”

“Well then, why did you fake it?” Rika asked. 

He smirked. “To set Cardin up.” His smirk faded and he spoke in a low voice. “Bullying is as much of a crime as any other. It should be treated as such, because no one deserves to go through what I had--” He stopped himself and shook his head. “Point is, I did that so he would get in trouble, because that girl was doing nothing to him, and he harassed her for no reason. I won’t let that happen to anyone else.”

John looked at him, concerned, but Daniel just waved him off and smirked. “Anyway, I heard they were called to the headmaster’s office, so it all went according to my plan. He should be in detention by now, and that’s what he gets.”

I frowned. “What if Professor Goodwitch finds out?”

“Well,” Daniel started. “Even if she did, his team _did_ use weapons in the cafeteria _and_ they punched a student, so it wouldn’t matter, because they’d still be in trouble.” He high-fived John.

“We should get to the next class,” Maria said. “Before the teachers notice we’re gone.”

We all nodded our heads and proceeded to our different classes.

* * *

My team and I were in History with Professor Port, and everyone was bored out of their minds. Even the best students were having trouble paying attention. Rika kept whispering to Maria, and Daniel was fidgeting with the fake bandage on his face. He insisted on having it because a, no one would figure out that he faked getting knocked out and b, it looked “bad-ass.” I just kept looking at the clock, hoping time would go faster. 

“And as I stared down the Beringel, I cut off its head with my mighty ax, and the beast was vanquished.” Professor Port was going on and on about another one of his young adventures, but just then, the bell rang, and everyone practically ran out of the classroom. _If only the bell had rung an hour ago,_ I thought. With that being our last class, My team and I went straight to our dorm, and all of us collapsed on our separate beds, thoroughly exhausted. 

“Man, Professor Port is so _boring!_ ” Daniel exclaimed. “I was about to fall asleep!”

“Ugh, same!” Rika agreed. “Can he just _not_ talk about himself for once?”

I heard a knock at our door, and Daniel got up to answer it. Team JASN walked through, John and Daniel doing some sort of handshake. 

“Mind if we crash your party?” John said to us. 

“We’re pretty exhausted from Professor Port,” Rika said in her usual cheerful demeanor. “But sure, why not?” And so John and Nicole sat on the desk chairs, while Valerie and Neon sat cross-legged on the floor. 

Thirty seconds went by in silence.

“Wow,” John broke it. “This is the first time we’ve been quiet for this long.”

“And you ruined it,” Maria said.

One minute went by in silence.

“So…,” Neon began. “What do you guys wanna do?”

“I’m just resting for right now,” I said. “I’m not much of a talker.”

John laughed. “No, really? I never would have guessed!”

Two minutes passed in silence.

“You guys wanna go get a snack?” I asked.

Everyone nodded and we left for the kitchen.

* * *

Team JNPR was already in the kitchen, so with Daniel’s help, we all ended up having pancakes as a snack, and no one could complain, because Daniel’s and Ren’s pancakes were, like, the best thing ever. Nora and Rika were shoving pancakes down their throats like garbage disposals, Jaune and Pyrrha were experiencing heaven, John, Nicole, and Daniel were fighting over the syrup, and Maria, Neon, Valerie, and I were eating like civilized people.

“These are so good!” Rika said after swallowing, thankfully. “How do you do it?”

Daniel and Ren looked at each other while smirking. “We’ll never tell.”

Rika pouted but continued inhaling her pancakes. “Whatever, as long as you make ‘em for us, Daniel!”

Daniel shrugged. “No promises, but I’ll try.” We all pumped our fists in the air at that.

We finished eating our late snack, headed back to our dorm after saying bye to team JNPR, and watched a movie to pass the time until dinner. It wasn’t that long, so we went back to sitting around until Nicole asked Daniel a sensitive question.

“Why’d you interrupt yourself in the infirmary, Daniel?”

Daniel’s expression became one of very well-concealed rage. He raised an eyebrow and spoke in a low voice. “That’s a story best saved for tomorrow. That way you can process everything in the morning.” He laid down on the bed. “I have to warn you, though, it’s a very dark story. For now, let’s just go to bed.”

Team JASN said their goodbyes and left, and Daniel got ready for bed without a word. We were a bit concerned for him, but he told us he was fine and went straight to sleep. We all followed suit shortly after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Gasp* Is this... PLOT?!
> 
> Jk, that's what this story is.
> 
> Also, there. A longer chapter.
> 
> Bye for now!


	10. Team Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my loyal subjects. It is I, your king. Now, BOW DOWN BEFORE ME--
> 
> Just kidding. I am a normal human. Wait, ‘normal’ does not define me! I am EXTRAORDINARY!
> 
> Again, another joke. Now, onto the real stuff:
> 
> I sincerely thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for giving this story a try. We’ve reached 200 hits, which is a much bigger milestone than I ever thought would be possible for me. And the best part is, this story is barely one percent done! I still have a very long way to go. So, hang tight and be patient, we’re in for one long, wild ride! 
> 
> Also, on a different topic, it seems I did not put a disclaimer that says I do not own RWBY. But, here’s what I have to say about these kinds of disclaimers for fanfics: THERE’S NO POINT! We already know you don’t own the characters, hence the reason why it’s a f a n f i c t i o n, like what the hell?!
> 
> That being said, I do understand why you put a disclaimer, but it should be obvious, that’s all I’m saying. But, I might as well put one of my own.
> 
> I do not own RWBY or its characters. I do, however, own Team DAMN and JASN.
> 
> Anyways, with that being said, onto the story!

**_Beacon Academy, Team DAMN’s dorm._ **

**Ashley’s POV; first person.**

  
  


I was, for once, the first one to wake up. It was finally Saturday, so I slept longer than usual. I looked at the alarm clock on my nightstand, which read 10:13am. So I got up and took a long shower, and by the time I got out, everyone else was awake.

“My turn!” Rika ran past me and slammed the door behind her.

“Why must she be so energetic in the mornings?” Maria asked. “Anyway, Daniel, shouldn’t you get up already?” No response. “Hello?” We looked at Daniel, who was cross-legged on his bed, looking at the floor with his eyebrows knit. “Daniel?”

He looked up in surprise. “Huh? Did you say something?”

I scratched my head. “You looked pretty pissed a second ago. Something on your mind?”

He shrugged. “Nothing’s wrong. Just thinking about something.”

“Are you sure?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, I _have_ been told I have a scary thinking face.” He laughed, but I could tell it wasn’t a real one.

“If you have something on your mind, you can always confide in us,” I reassured him. “After all, we’re gonna be on a team for the next four years, communication is a key part in friendships.”

He looked grateful. “You’re right. We should get to know each other better.” He stood up. “I don’t think we know much about each other.”

Rika got out of the bathroom. “What’s all this talk about?”

Daniel pointed to all of us. “We’re gonna make today a team-bonding exercise!”

Maria and I were confused, while Rika was excited. “Yay! I can’t wait!”

“What do you mean by that?” Maria asked.

Daniel smirked and clenched his fist. “We’re gonna go out to the city, and we’re gonna talk about ourselves, such as what we like to do, our favorite things, and just have fun with each other in general!”

I nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

Maria shrugged. “How bad could it be?”

“Alright!” Daniel clapped his hands. “At noon, we’ll go down to Vale!”

Everyone finished up in the bathroom, got dressed and left the dorm, only to bump into Team JASN.

“Is it me, or do we always run into each other?” Valerie asked.

“Oh, this is perfect!” Daniel exclaimed. “You guys wanna come down to Vale later today with us?”

“That sounds great!” John replied. “What time?”

“Noon,” Rika said.

“We’ll be there,” Neon said.

“Great,” I said. “Now let’s go to the cafeteria!”

We didn’t have to wait long, since there wasn’t many people, so we all sat at the same table. Everyone was enjoying their breakfast, when Nicole spoke up.

“So, Daniel,” She began. “You interrupted yourself while you were in the infirmary yesterday. Could you tell us why?” Neon kicked her shin under the table and Daniel just smiled sadly. 

“Well, I think I’ll save it until the end of the day,” he said. “I don’t wanna put a damper on the whole day, because today’s supposed to be about having fun.” He shrugged. “Basically, just remind me at the end of the day, and I’ll tell you.”

Everyone nodded their head in agreement and we finished our breakfast in a comfortable silence. We headed back to our dorms and grabbed our bags and weapons—save for Daniel—and met up at the airship. We sat down and prepared for liftoff.

* * *

The flight wasn’t long, and soon we were in the heart of the city. The sidewalks were busy, cars and trucks were passing by, and shops and cafes were filled with customers.

“So where do you guys wanna go first?” Daniel asked.

“Food!” Valerie shouted.

“You just ate!” Maria shouted in surprise..

“Yeah, but the food around here is so great!” She remarked. “I could eat here all day!”

“Careful,” Nicole warned. “You might gain a lot of weight with that kind of thinking.”

“At least I’m not short and skinny!” Valerie retorted. They both glared at each other, grinning, and you could practically see the sparks between them.

“Alright, that’s enough,” John calmed them down a bit. “How about we head to the park?”

“I’m down,” I agreed.

“Yeah, let’s go!” Rika exclaimed. We went to the nearest park and found a nice grassy area, so we settled down on it.

“Alright!” Rika clapped her hands together. “What should we talk about first?”

John spoke up. “Let’s start with our weapons! I’ll go first!” He stood up and pulled out a baton that extended into a staff that had some painted flames, and there was a spearhead on either side. “This is Wildfire.” Then he pulled out a revolver with painted snowflakes on it from his bag. “And this is Blizzard.”

Valerie nodded her head in approval. “Pretty good. My turn!” She stood up, and from her back pulled out a bayonet that turned into a strange longsword that had holes in it, with small Dust chambers in the blade itself. “This is The Revealer. When I press a certain button, it blows out the Dust from these holes into the air, and depending on the type of Dust it releases, you can guess what happens next.” She turned it back into a bayonet and put it on her back again. “It’s more of an area attack weapon, plus the gun.”

“My turn.” Neon stood up and pulled out two disks that grew into twin battle axes, which she twirled around in her hands. “These are Slice and Dice. They can attach to each other and become a double sided ax.” She put both ends together, and some gears and locks clicked into place, extending the shaft. She looked at me. “Your turn.”

I got up and grabbed two empty hilts from my sleeves, which unfolded into two katanas. “This is Crossfire. They are my swords.” I then pressed the small red buttons on the sides, and the blades folded back to reveal two gun barrels, the tips of the katanas sticking out behind the barrels. “They are my guns.” I held them upside down, so the blades were in front of me. “And they are my claws.” I shrunk the blades so they were empty hilts again and put them back in my sleeves.

“That’s sick!” John clapped. “You’re like a ninja!”

I nodded. “Maria, you’re up.”

She stood up and grabbed what looked like a long hammer, which started unfolding into a large broadsword with a really wide blade, and it had a big blue hilt with a red circular gem in the middle. “This is The Vindicator. It is a weapon that has been passed down to the eldest child of the Naroko family. Its thick blade is very heavy, which makes it good for attacking a large group. I also have several vials of Dust on me at all times, which I use with The Vindicator for maximum damage output.” She looked at Rika, who was practically on the verge of exploding with excitement. “Yes, it’s your turn now, Rika.”

She shot up from where she was sitting “Yes! Finally!” She pulled out a branch that seemed to magically extend into a wooden staff with a knife embedded in the bottom and a green gem on the top. “I call her Mother Nature. I can use her to enhance my semblance and ask the seeds inside her to help me!”

“Uh, I’m sorry,” John stuttered. “ _Ask_ the seeds?”

She looked at him like he was crazy “Uh, yeah! My semblance lets me talk to plants and trees and ask them to help me or my friends!” She put a finger to her chin. “They can hear and see everything that happens, and they always watched over me when I was a child, along with my parents!”

John blinked twice in surprise. “That… makes a lot of sense, actually.”

Rika turned towards Daniel. “All right, what’s your weapon?” 

Everyone turned to look at him, and he smirked. “Everything.”

“Uh, could you be more specific?” Nicole asked.

He laughed. “I’m not kidding! With my semblance, I don’t need a real weapon! I can create any weapon known to the world!” He formed his now signature sword, with the cross-guard hilt. “But, I guess I _could_ name them.” He spun around the sword. “This one will be… Vendetta.” He smirked. “Yeah. Vendetta. I like it.” He shattered that sword and formed the same double barrel shotgun he has in the past. “This one will be Trusty Blaster. And this one…” He shattered Trusty Blaster and created an empty hilt, which he charged with electricity, and out came a cylindrical blade of lightning. “And this is Lightning Saber.” It buzzed with energy as he swung it around. 

“He’s a big _Star Wars_ fan,” John explained to us. “That’s epic, Daniel!”

And with that, everyone was done showcasing, and Daniel had an idea. “John, you’ve got a revolver, so let’s do revolver roulette.”

I frowned. “What’s that?”

“You get a revolver, and put one bullet in the chamber, then you spin it,” he explained. “Once you load it, you take turns shooting yourself in the head until someone shoots themselves, and then we reload and keep doing it until one person is left standing.”

“That… actually sounds fun,” Maria said.

“Well, now we have to, since Maria rarely calls something fun!” Rika exclaimed.

Maria scoffed in offense. “I do consider some things fun!”

Daniel waved them both off. “Whatever. John, give me Blizzard.” He handed Daniel his gun and he put a small crystal bullet in the chamber, then he spun it around three times before flicking his hand to the right, closing it. “Don’t worry, this bullet won’t hurt. Anyway, we’re gonna go in alphabetical order, Ashley first.” He threw the gun at me, and I held it up to my head and pulled the trigger. There was _click!_ sound that everyone heard. “Guess I live another day.” I tossed it over to Daniel. He pushed it against his cheek and shot. Once again, it was empty. He gave it to John, who hesitantly put it to his temple. He pulled the trigger, and nothing came out. He sighed in relief, and handed the gun to Maria. She held the the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, but this time the gun actually fired, and Maria was out. “Dammit!”

Daniel took the gun from her. “Since the bullet has been shot, I’ll reload it.” He put another crystal bullet in, spun it twice and closed it. He handed it to Neon, who holds it a foot away from her head. She hesitantly pulled the trigger, and flinched at the sound of an empty gun. She passed it to Nicole, who grabbed it and shot with no hesitation, but it was still empty. Nicole gave it to Rika, who pushed it against her chin, and pulled the trigger. Once again, empty. She passed it to Valerie, and for some weird reason, she put the barrel on her forehead and pulled the trigger. She was unlucky, though, and she rubbed her forehead. “That wasn’t a good idea.” She gave it to Daniel, and he put another crystal bullet inside. “Alright, speed round! When you get the gun, just pull the trigger, no stopping until the gun shoots!” He threw it back to me, I held the gun up to my head and pulled the trigger. It was empty, so I tossed it back to him. With quick reflexes, he pointed it to his head and shot, but it was empty, so he immediately tossed it to John. He spun the gun around in his hand and stopped when it landed on his temple. He shot, and it was empty yet again. He tossed it to Neon, who grabbed it and shot without thinking, but it hit her in the jaw. She recoiled from the sound, and dropped the gun. Daniel picked it up and loaded it again. “Sorry, Neon, but you’re out. Speed round, part two!” He gave it to me and I shot, but the bullet hit me in the head. I frowned. “Dammit, why so soon?” Daniel took the gun from me and reloaded it. “Sorry, wasn’t my fault.” He pulled the trigger and heard the empty click, and threw it over to John. He shot, and it was empty again. “Playing revolver roulette with this many people, it’s weird, but even more fun than two people!” He gave it to Rika, and she shot the gun quickly, but the bullet hit her, and she pouted. “No fair!” She tossed it back to Daniel, who reloaded and put it to his head. “Three people left, now we’re talking!” He pulled the trigger and it was empty, so he chucked it to John, who pulled the trigger just as he caught it. There was no shot, so he threw it over to Valerie. She shot, and it was empty, so she threw it back to Daniel, who shot himself again, but it was empty. He threw it to John, who pulled the trigger again, and it was empty—no surprise there—so he threw it back to Valerie, who pulled the trigger and shot herself in the head. “No! I lost!” She threw the gun back at Daniel in rage, and he reloaded one last time. “Rika, do you have your scroll?”

She nodded. “Right here. Why?”

He smirked. “Play some Wild West Standoff music.”

John cracked up, and Rika did as she was told. Daniel grinned widely as it played, and he and John both stood up straight. Daniel pointed the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger. _Click!_ Empty. He threw it to John, and he shot the gun. _Click!_ He passed it back to Daniel, who pulled the trigger again. _Click!_ He tossed it back to John, who held it to his temple and shot again. _Click!_ He chucked back at Daniel, who was grinning with his eyes closed as he pulled the trigger.

_Bang!_

Daniel’s head tilted to the side from the impact of the bullet, and everything was silent, the music finished. He opened his eyes and grinned from ear to ear. “That. Was. _Awesome!_ ”

He started laughing, and everyone joined in. _I’m gonna be spending a lot of time with these guys, and I’m glad_.

* * *

After a ride on the airship, and eating our dinner, we were all sitting in our dorm, and everyone was talking up a storm. Everyone except Daniel, that is. He looked deep in thought, and everyone noticed, but didn’t say anything about it. When everyone had stopped talking, he spoke up.

“So…” He trailed off. “You guys were really interested in something I said, or rather, _didn’t_ say, am I right?”

We all just nodded our heads silently, except for John. “Are you sure you’re ready to share… _that?”_

He nodded. “It’s been seven years, and they _are_ our teammates. Besides, we’re doing a team-bonding exercise anyway, so I was gonna have to anyway.”

“Alright,” John said. 

Daniel sighed. “I hope this doesn’t ruin the mood of today.” He sighed. “What I’m about to tell you, no one else knows, except my parents and older brother. This is the story of my ex-girlfriend, and the night I died.”

* * *

**_Flashback to seven years ago, in a forest overlooking a cliff._ **

**_Daniel’s POV; first person._ **

_Dakota punched me in the stomach, and I fell to the ground, coughing. I tried to get up, but he put his foot on my chest._

_“When will you learn?” He asked, smirking. “How many times do I have to knock you down for you to realize?!”_

_I gathered up as much strength as I could and used my sword to hit him off of me. “That’s just it. No matter how many times you knock me down, I’ll just get back up and hit you harder.”_

_Joe came at me from my right side and struck me in the shoulder with his katana. “Well, how many times can you get knocked out before you completely pass out?”_

_Cole then came down from a tree and landed on my back. “Yeah, Daniel. When will that spark of yours die out?!”_

_He grabbed me by my hood and threw me over to Sarah, who kicked me and the face, and I fell back down to the ground._

_“You’ve been a pain in our side for a while now,” she said. “How much longer do you plan on keeping it up?”_

_Audrey then kicked my side until I turned over. “Everyone else would have been better off without you.” She grabbed me by my hood again and handed me over to Samantha, who held me by the neck and slammed me into a tree._

_“How about you do everyone a favor and die right now?” Samantha asked with a grin. She threw me over to a rock near the cliff, and I used the rock to prop myself up._ Don’t give up, _I thought._ You can’t let them get to you.

_Then my girlfriend Julia came over to me, and helped me off the ground. “It’s gonna be okay. I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you.”_

_I smiled. She was the only one in this place that I could trust. Someone who didn’t hate me for who and what I was. I stood up straight and she hugged me tightly._

_“Where would I be without you?” I asked._

_She laughed. “Probably alive and healthy.”_

Wait, what? _I thought._

_I felt something sharp go through my stomach, and I started feeling dizzy. “Wha… what?” I gasped out._

_Julia had stabbed me in my gut with a dagger._

_“Goodbye, Daniel Springs.”_

_And then, I fell off the cliff, and the last thing I remembered is seeing her smile as I fell._

If I survive this, I don’t even know what I’ll do next.

* * *

**Ashley’s POV; first person.**

Everyone was silent as Daniel finished his story, until Rika spoke up first. “How… how did you survive?”

“My semblance,” he explained. “I must have subconsciously covered any wounds where blood would be spilling out.”

I tiled my head. “You can do that?”

He nodded. “I can cover anything in my crystals, including my organs. I have to be really careful, though, and I have to make sure that it is thin and flexible.” He shrugged. “I can stop internal bleeding like that, and I can even prevent what happened then, but I didn’t know what was happening, so I didn’t react fast enough.”

“So that’s why you moved?” Maria asked.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “Once I was hospitalized, we moved to a different side of Patch. I don’t know what happened to them, though.” His face darkened. “I only hope I never see them again.” We all just stayed silent, and his face returned to his normal, confident self. “Well, now you know pretty much everything there is to know about me. We can talk more tomorrow, I’m tired.” 

  
We said goodbye to Team JASN, and we had the dorm to ourselves. We all got ready for bed, and Daniel was sitting on his bed, just like this morning. _That must have taken a lot of strength, to retell a story that traumatizing. He really is stronger than anyone may think._ We said our good-nights, and we all went to sleep. Daniel definitely gave us a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I have so much fun writing that revolver roulette?
> 
> Anyway, I called it revolver roulette because real world continents do not exist in Remnant.
> 
> And won’t you look at that? Some actual plot! And team bonding! No way!
> 
> Also, holy crap, this chapter is the longest one yet! That doesn’t mean it’s the longest one ever! THERE WILL BE LONGER CHAPTERS DON’T WORRY!
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Also, I finished this chapter two days before I was supposed to, but I post chapters on the dot. No sooner, no later :p)


	11. Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got another one for you guys! *blows party horn*  
> Also, when you get to the first fight scene, I ask that you listen to these songs while reading it: Blue by DAGames, and Green by DAGames. You’ll find them in the album called Flashdrive.  
> Anyway, enjoy this slightly long chapter!

**_Beacon Academy, cafeteria._ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

At 10:52am, Teams DAMN, JASN and RWBY were sitting on separate sides of the same table eating brunch, talking about random things. Maria, Neon and Weiss were comparing notes, Rika Valerie and Ruby were discussing favorite desserts, Blake, Nicole and Ashley were sharing favorite for books, and Yang, John and I were exchanging puns.

“I like the team name Diamond, Daniel,” Yang said. “It’s got a really nice  _ ring _ to it!” She, John and I cracked up, and we all groaned.

“Must you make everyone groan before noon?” Maria asked.

“Yes,” We said in unison.

“I think they’re funny!” Rika exclaimed.

Yang smirked. “Finally, someone appreciates the art of comedy!”

John looked at Blake. “You’ve been awfully quiet, haven’t you?”

Blake looked at him over the top of her book. “I mean, I  _ am _ trying to read.”

He shrugged. “Just saying. Anyways, I--”

“Well, well, well!” someone shouted from behind us. “Look who we ran into after all this time!”

I froze in my tracks, fury rapidly overtaking me.  _ Impossible. _

“No way!” another voice chimed in. “How did he get here?!”

I ignored the concerned questions from my friends and slowly turned around to see if my ears were deceiving me. My gaze rested upon four guys and four girls, walking towards me. The first guy was wearing a green army jacket with black jeans, and he had black hair in a spiky quiff hairstyle with short sides and pale blue eyes. The second guy was wearing a long sleeved t-shirt and beige cargo pants, and he had blond spiky hair with swamp green eyes. The third guy was wearing a black hoodie with grey sweatpants, and he had curly brown hair and hazel eyes. The fourth guy was wearing a collared black button-up shirt and beige dress pants which, admittedly, complemented his dark skin and dark brown eyes. As for the girls, the first one had long, curly brown hair and red eyes. The second girl had dyed purple hair tied into two braided buns and red eyes. The third girl had light blue hair with bangs in the front and a ponytail in the back, and she had red eyes as well. The fourth girl had short light brown hair and ocean blue eyes. All of the girls were wearing the school uniform.

And the hope that I was going to enjoy my time at Beacon shattered like my crystals.

“Daniel Springs!” the first guy, Dakota James, shouted. “Meet my team, JJCN—Jacaranda! And the girls’ team, RAJR—Ranger!” 

“Been a while, huh?” The second guy, Joe Flynt, asked.

“Seems you were right after all this time!” The third guy, Cole Brandon, called out to me. “You really  _ do _ get back up!”

My absolute rage had paralyzed me as I stared ahead at the Rosemary sisters.

“I see you’ve found another stupid faunus friend!” the first sister, Samantha, put a hand to her forehead.

“Never in my life did I think we would see you at  _ Beacon, _ of all places!” the second sister, Audrey, exclaimed.

“And John’s here, too!” the third sister, Sarah, laughed.

“And allow us to introduce our new friend,” The fourth girl, Julia Hammonds, put her hand on the other guy’s shoulder. “This is Nick Holland, we met him not long after you… disappeared.” Nick looked uncomfortable in their presence.

“ _ YOU ASSHOLES! _ ” My paralysis finally went away and, blinded by my rage, the first thing I did was turn my eyes red and try to run over there and punch the first one I could, but John and Ashley held me back by my arms with all of their strength. “LET ME FUCKING GO!”

“Daniel, calm down!” Ashley yelled at me.

“They are the ones who made my life miserable!” I screamed. I tried to break free, but Maria and Valerie joined John and Ashley in holding me back.

“They’re baiting you!” Valerie shouted. “Don’t fall for it!”

I stopped struggling, knowing they weren’t going to let me go. Samantha scoffed, and they started to walk away, but I called back to them. “At noon! In the training room! I  _ will _ beat you all this time, so you better  _ fucking _ be there!”

Samantha turned to look at me. “We’ll be there, but only to kick your cocky ass.”

Once again, I tried to run at her, but they held me back again. “I’M GONNA MAKE YOU REGRET EVERYTHING YOU DID!” 

They walked away, and my rage subsided, albeit only a little, and Maria turned to look at me. “What in the hell were you thinking?! You really plan on fighting  _ all of them?! _ I thought you said you had never beaten them--”

I interrupted her just by looking her in the eyes, with mine burning red. I looked around the table to see if anyone else was gonna try and stop me. They all went silent, specifically Blake, who looked a bit shaken, but I ignored her at the time. “I will not lose to them again.” And with that, I went to find Professor Goodwitch, to get permission to use the training room.

* * *

It was noon, and I was currently waiting for my sworn enemies to show up. My friends were watching me as I practiced spinning my sword in various positions as a technique to use in the battle, as momentum is a large part of my fighting style. Just then, they entered the room with their weapons drawn. Dakota had two pistols, one on each hip, along with a dagger for close range, Joe had katana strapped to his back, Cole had a spear with a metal shaft, and Nick had a strange looking rifle. Samantha had a two-handed sabre, Audrey had dual scimitars, Sarah had a chain whip, and Julia had disc-like hand-blades. 

“Oh hey!” Audrey shouted. “You didn’t chicken out!”

I scowled. “Surprised you didn’t, either.”

“Oh!” they all exclaimed in unison.

“He thinks he can roast  _ us? _ ” Dakota laughed. “Sorry, Daniel, but you can’t roast for shit.”

“I can, in fact, roast you if I wanted to,” I remarked. “Literally  _ and _ figuratively.”

Joe scoffed. “Try it, then.”

“No,” I declined. “It’d be a waste of effort.”

“Pfft,” Cole said. “Lame.”

I rolled my eyes. “Just get your asses up here.”

“You don’t tell us what to do,” Sarah said, even though they got up on the arena anyway. Professor Goodwitch walked up to us, clipboard in hand. “Are you ready, teams?” Different variations of ‘yes’ were said. “Are you ready, Mr. Springs?” I formed my crystal gauntlets along with Vendetta, and nodded slowly. “Then the match shall begin in three, two, one, now.”

I charged at Cole first, punching him in the face and sending him flying halfway across the arena. Joe swung his sword at me, trying to hit my back, but I grabbed his katana with my gauntlets and kicked him in the face. Sarah lassoed me, pulling me towards Dakota, who hit me with a right hook to the jaw. I spun around and whacked him in the head with the flat of Vendetta. Then I quickly formed my Trusty Blasters and shot myself away from them, to quickly think of a good strategy.  _ My erratic movements can confuse them, but not for long. I need to think of another way to get the upper hand. Wait, that’s it! The  _ upper _ hand! _ I swiftly reloaded my Blasters and shot myself into the air, just in time to dodge bullets from Dakota, and I charged up energy in my right fist, before falling and striking the ground with electricity where Sarah, Nick, and Joe were standing. That knocked off a chunk of each of their Auras, but not by much. Samantha barreled towards me and struck my left shoulder with her sabre. I spun around to hit her like I did with Dakota, but she predicted that and parried Vendetta and then used the momentum to throw her sabre at me. What she didn’t predict was me catching the sword by the hilt in midair, just to throw it back at her. It hit her, but while she was momentarily dazed, Julia jumped out from behind her and swiped at me several times with her hand-blades. I managed to dodge most of them, but Nick shot me with his rifle, which then turned into a warhammer. He charged at me, and whacked me right in the chest with it, sending me across the whole arena. What none of them knew, though, was that I protected my chest with my crystals. So I got up and formed my Lightning Saber. “Thanks for that.” I ran at Nick in a zigzag motion, throwing off his shots, and then struck him with my Lightning Saber. He was now paralyzed for the time being. Then, Dakota shot me five times in the back and roundhouse-kicked me in my right hip, which sent me right into Samantha, who drop-kicked me. She threw me into a wall, where I lay there for a moment, waiting for the right moment to strike.

“Give up yet?” Samantha asked.

Sparks were flying around me, and I knew this was my time. “Nope. Never.” I got up and turned my hair blue, and ran straight at her, Lightning Saber raised. We clashed for a minute, before I quickly formed my Trusty Blasters and blasted myself up into the air. I charged up my entire being with lightning, and when I came down, an enormous dome of lightning pulsed from my body as I screamed to the top of my lungs, a continuous electric shock emanating from me that lasted about fifteen seconds. When I stopped, I saw that they all had been paralyzed, and I used this precious time to strike them all as much as I could with my blasters. I went up the Samantha and shot her in the stomach twice, then I shot a lightning bolt at Julia. I formed a powerful Desert Eagle pistol and shot Dakota, Joe, Cole and Nick twice each. I then formed a warhammer of my own and whacked Audrey and Sarah with it. By the time they started regaining the ability to move, four buzzers were heard: All of Team JJCN had been eliminated from the battle.  _ I just have to beat the girls now, but that wave of lightning took a lot out of me. I just need to form some crystal armor so I don’t lose Aura. _

Samantha shook her head. “It seems we’ve underestimated you. But rest assured, that will  _ not _ happen again.” She punched me in the jaw, sending me back a few feet, and she barraged me with melee attacks. I countered with some of my own, but Julia struck me from behind, and Sarah lassoed me again, but I channeled electricity into the chain, electrifying Sarah since she was holding it. Audrey, however, used her semblance, super speed to barrage me with attacks from her scimitars, I took most of the damage, which started to drain my Aura a tiny bit. Samantha used her semblance to absorb my negative energy while I was fighting Audrey, which in turn makes her stronger. And Sarah used her semblance of Amplification to make Samantha even stronger. Then Samantha swung her sword down on me, and I moved to block it, but then my vision swam around momentarily, and she struck me hard, draining my Aura. I looked around and saw Julia, using her semblance of Discombobulation to screw up my vision and concentration. She struck me in my head, which dazed me. At this point, my vision was blurry, and I was relying solely on my crystal armor, but it wasn’t helping me much since they were going for my head and messing up my senses. I couldn’t even hear very well, as there was a perpetual ringing in both sets of ears. I saw a vague silhouette charge towards me, and slam into me, but I didn’t even feel it at this point, I just felt weightless as I crashed into another wall. I barely heard a buzzer, and my friends calling out to me. Samantha walked over to me and crouched down. “Had enough yet?”

I gave her the middle finger, and she punched me one last time, making my vision go black.

* * *

**Ashley’s POV; first person.**

I don’t get it. Everyone heard the buzzed, Daniel was clearly defeated.

So why did Samantha knock him out?

Professor Goodwitch checked Daniel’s pulse, and looked at John and I. “Take him to the infirmary, now!”

We each grabbed one of Daniel’s arms and hauled him out of there, and the last thing I heard from Professor Goodwitch was that Samantha was in big trouble. 

We arrived at the infirmary and gave him to the nurses, who put him on a gurney and took him to another room. John looked at me in concern. “Are you okay?”

“I think a better question is, is  _ he _ going to be okay?”

John nodded slowly. “He’s came back from worse, but it might take a while, because she shattered his Aura.” He sighed. “I guess we just have to have faith in him.”

I agreed, and we walked back to our teammates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many times is Daniel gonna get knocked out? Is he not as strong as we thought?  
> Jk, he’s pretty strong, but so are they. Also, if you figured out who I based the Rosemary sisters on, don’t judge me :p


	12. In The City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all! Sorry this chapter’s late, I’ve been playing GTA Online today. Also, something to note about this chapter is that the part in canon where Jaune goes to the Forever Fall forest for Cardin has already passed.  
> On a different topic, I might start writing a new fanfiction soon! It won’t be updated as often as this one, but I will start writing it before September by the earliest. So yeah, something else to look forward to.  
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

**_Beacon Academy, the infirmary._ **

**_Daniel’s POV; first person._ **

I woke up on a bed that was not my own, and I looked around to see where I was. Didn’t take long to figure it out though.  _ Ugh, my head hurts. Why am I here? _ I tried to recall the events that led up to this.  _ Oh yeah, I fought Teams RAJR and JJCN. Everything feels like a bad dream, but judging from the throbbing in my head, it was real. Just like the last time I saw them. _ A doctor came into the room with a clipboard and a prescription bottle. “Take these pills once every day for three days, and you should be good as new. I also advise that you be careful when deciding to fight eight people at the same time.”

I nodded along just to get this over with, and left the infirmary with a glance at my watch.  _ It’s already three o’clock?! I’ve been out for a while! _ I raced back to my dorm, but then I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw my friends coming down the hallway.

“Daniel! You’re awake!” John exclaimed.

Rika ran over to me and knocked me down with a hug. “Are you okay?! Tell me you’re okay!”

“I will be, once you get off me!” I said in a strained voice.

“Oh, sorry!” She stood up and grabbed my hand to pull me up.

“Are you sure there’s no pain anywhere?” Ashley asked me.

“Just a small throbbing in my head when I woke up, it’s already gone.” I frowned. “Tell me what happened before I blacked out.”

John scratched the back of his neck. “Well, Samantha got in trouble for punching you after the buzzer.”

“How long?” I asked.

“A week of detention,” John recalled. “The rest of her team, too. But Team JJCN is still up and about.”

I internally groaned. “Whatever. As long as we don’t run into them, that’s fine. Let’s just go take a walk in the city.”

“You sure you’re up for it?” Valerie asked me.

“Oh, come on, guys!” I laughed. “I’m Daniel Springs! I’ve survived worse than a knockout before! I don’t even feel any pain right now!”

John shrugged. “You make a good point. To the city we go!”

* * *

We were walking in the busy streets of Vale, looking around at the docks. John chuckled a bit, out of the blue. “Did you guys hear that Jaune saved Cardin from a Ursa Minor, right after Cardin beat him up?”

“Really?” I asked, incredulous. 

“That’s how you know he’s a good person!” Rika said. “He’d save anyone, even if they don’t deserve it!”

We walked for a little while longer and found Team RWBY looking at a Dust shop that seemed to have been robbed. We headed over to them, and overheard an argument about the White Fang.

“That still doesn’t change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum,” Weiss said. “Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal.”

“That’s not necessarily true…” Yang objected.

“Hey girls!” John said, grabbing their attention. “What are you--”

“Hey!” someone shouted. “Stop that faunus!”

We all turned in the direction of the shout, and ran over to the railing. We saw a blond monkey faunus running on a boat that had just arrived.  _ A stowaway? _

“Thanks for the ride, guys!” he called to them, before landing on the pier and jumping to a nearby lamppost, where he hung upside-down from and ate a banana.

“You no-good stowaway!” The man on the boat yelled. 

“Hey! A no-good stowaway would have been caught!” he shouted. “I’m a  _ great _ stowaway!” They then proceeded to throw a rock at him, which he easily dodged. The detectives who were inspecting the Dust shop walked up to the lamppost he was on. “Hey! Get down from there this instant!”

The faunus just threw his banana peel at the guy, who growled. He used his tail to stand upright on the lamppost, and started laughing mischievously. He jumped off with a front-flip and took off running up the stairs, then he passed us by, winking at Blake.

“Well, Weiss,” Yang started. “You wanted to see the competition, and there it goes.”

“Quick!” Weiss raised a finger. “We have to observe him!” And they took off running.

“Observe him for what?” Maria asked us.

“I have no idea,” I said. “But we should probably follow them.” So we ran after them, who ran after those cops, who ran after that faunus. Weiss took a wrong turn, and bumped into a girl with orange hair in a bob style that was similar to Valerie’s, and a pink bow on the back of her head. Weiss paid her no mind, instead looking at the cops and faunus who were still running. “No! He got away!”

“Uh, Weiss?” Yang pointed to the girl she was on top of. Weiss looked at her and jumped up in surprise.

“Salutations!” the orange-haired girl greeted.

“Um, hello,” Ruby responded.

“You good?” John asked the girl. “That looked like it hurt.”

“I’m wonderful!” the girl, who was still on the floor, answered. “Thank you for asking!” We all looked at each other in confusion, with the same thought in mind.  _ This girl is weird. _

“Do you… wanna get up?” Yang asked.

The girl stared at us for a second. “Yes.” Then she pushed herself up in the air with her arms, landing on her feet. Team RWBY backed away in surprise. “My name is Penny. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

We all introduced ourselves, save for Yang. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Blake proceeded to elbow her in the rib. “Oh, I’m Yang.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Penny exclaimed cheerfully.

“You already said that,” Weiss pointed out.

“So I did!” Penny smiled sheepishly.

“Well, sorry for running into you!” Weiss apologized as we all turned to walk away.

“Take care, friend!” Ruby waved.

As we walked out of earshot of Penny, Yang scrunched her face in confusion. “She was… weird.”

“Now, where did that faunus riffraff run off to?” Weiss asked nobody in particular.

Suddenly, Penny appeared in front of us. “What did you call me?”

Yang had a face that said ‘oh shit!’ while Weiss was looking back and forth rapidly from where Penny had just been. “Oh, I’m really sorry, I definitely didn’t think you heard me!”

“No,” Penny said. “Not you.” She walked over to Ruby. “You!”

“Me?!” Ruby squeaked. “I-I don’t know, I-- what I-- um, uh--”

“You called me friend!” Penny said incredulously. “Am I really your friend?”

“Ummm,” Ruby droned. She looked to the rest of us, who were making various gestures, all of which meant no. “Yeah, sure! Why not?” Her teammates fell to the floor, and my team just facepalmed collectively.

Penny started laughing. “Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!”

“Is this what is was like when you met me?” Ruby asked Weiss.

“No,” Weiss answered. “She seems  _ far _ more coordinated.”

“So,” Yang started. “What are you doing in Vale?”

“I’m here to fight in the tournament!” Penny said. 

“Wait,” Weiss interrupted. “You’re fighting in the tournament?”

“I’m combat ready!” Penny saluted.

“Forgive me, but… you hardly look the part,” Weiss remarked.

“Says the girl wearing a dress,” Blake retorted. 

Me and John looked at each other, smiling with our hands over our mouths, and whispered with each other. “She just got  _ roasted! _ ”

“It’s a combat skirt!” Weiss defended herself. 

Ruby rushed to her side. “Yeah!” Then they high-fived.

“Wait a minute,” Weiss said. “If you’re here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?”

John, Ashley and I looked at Weiss in disdain, while Penny was confused. “The who?”

“The filthy faunus from the boat!” She held up a poorly drawn picture of the faunus we were chasing earlier.

“Why do you keep saying that?!” Blake asked.

“Huh?”

“Stop calling him a rapscallion. Stop calling him a degenerate. He’s a person!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Weiss scoffed. “Would you like me to stop referring to the trashcan as a trashcan? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?”

“Stop it!” Blake shouted.

I scowled, my arms folded and my ears twitching in irritation. “Yeah, Weiss. How ‘bout you watch your mouth? I’m still standing right here, y’know.”

  
  
  


“Stop what?” Weiss asked in annoyance. “He clearly broke the law! Give him time, he’ll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang.”

“You ignorant little brat!” Blake shouted. She turned around and stormed off the other way.

“How dare you talk to me like that?!” Weiss shouted, and walked after her. “I am your teammate!”

“ _ You, _ ” Blake shouted back. “Are a judgmental little girl.”

“What in the world makes you say that?!” Weiss retorted.

“Uhh, I think we should probably go,” Yang said to Ruby. 

“Where are we going?” Penny asked.

They didn’t answer, as the monochrome duo continued to bicker.

“Well, I’m going back to the dorms,” John said. “It’s getting a bit late.”

I looked at my watch. 6:53pm. “Yeah, we should all head back. It was nice to bump into you guys, I guess.” I started walking home, and my teammates followed me after saying our goodbyes to Ruby and Yang.

* * *

“That was totally uncalled for!” I yelled. We were all currently in my team’s dorm, as usual. “She was being blatantly racist, right in our faces!”

“I know, I know,” John tried to calmed me down. “But you gotta understand where she’s coming from. The White Fang have always seen the SDC as an enemy, I imagine that would twist her view of the faunus.”

“He does have a point,” Valerie agreed. “Some people have only ever seen faunus in the White Fang, there’s bound to be misunderstandings.”

I sighed. “I know, but still. I actually used to be in the White Fang with my parents, back when they were still a peaceful protesting group. After things had started to change, my parents and I moved away. But not all of the faunus in the White Fang are bad. Some of them are just confused and misguided. They do as they’re told because their current leader has twisted their views on the outside world. And their current leader is a real douche, I had the displeasure to meet him once.”

Rika nodded along. “If only there was some way we could convince the faunus that they’re not doing what they thought.”

“Some of them know what they’re doing is bad, and some of them are fine with it,” Ashley chimed in. “But for a while, they’ve been silent. Too silent.” 

I got up and stretched. “Whatever, I think I’m gonna head to bed. You guys should go back to your dorm before you get in trouble.”

John nodded. “See you tomorrow.” Team JASN got up and left the room. I went to the bathroom, got ready for bed and was the first to go to sleep. I wonder what awaits for tomorrow. Hopefully not Team JJCN and RAJR.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I really wanted to write Daniel’s reaction to Weiss being racist in episode fifteen. Idk why, though. Anyway, this chapter was an averagely long one, so I hope you enjoyed.  
> Also, for anyone who’s wondering, my next fanfiction will either be a oneshot of WhiteRose, or a Splatoon one (don’t judge me for my unique tastes :P)  
> Also, 267 hits. Dayum, thanks guys! Bye for now!


	13. Searching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I’ve been using Daniel’s POV a lot, but just bear with me. Soon I will use the rest of Team DAMN, along with the others. I’m just trying to figure out where to put their POVs while still maintaining the flow of the story.  
> Also, I am aware I have made a huge mistake in the timeline of RWBY, as the part where Blake and Weiss fought had occurred on Friday, even though in the last chapter, it implied that day was Sunday. Big oopsie on my part, I usually don’t plan out my story too far ahead, even though I should.

**_Vale City._**

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

My team and I went out into the city again after classes, and we were looking around at the Vytal Festival banners strewn about town. 

“I can’t wait for the tournament!” Rika exclaimed. “There’s gonna be so many people to fight, and even more people watching!”

“I know!” I agreed. “I’ve always wanted to participate!”

“Calm down, you two,” Maria said. “The tournament’s still a few weeks off.”

“We know that!” Rika huffed. “But we’re still excited!”

“Hey, Team RWBY’s over there,” Ashley pointed to our right. “Are they… calling for Blake?”

“Probably,” I responded. “I heard she was gone when they woke up. She’s probably just blowing off some steam somewhere. I would do the same if I were her.”

“Let’s go over and say hi to them!” Rika ran ahead, and we followed her at a much slower pace.

“Hey, girls!” I waved to them. 

Yang turned to look at me. “Hey, Daniel, girls. What are you up to?”

Rika shrugged. “We like taking walks in the park. What about you?”

“We’re looking for Blake,” Ruby said as we continued walking. “But Weiss isn’t helping!”

“Oh, you know who might be able to help?” Weiss asked. “The police!”

Ruby growled. “Weiss…”

“It was just an idea!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Ruby grumbled. “A bad one.”

“Weiss,” Yang spoke up. “I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions.”

“I think when we hear it, you’ll all realize I was right,” Weiss retorted.

“And I think Weiss’s hair looks wonderful today!” Penny said from behind us.

We all jumped in surprise, Ruby especially. “Agh! Penny, where did you come from?!”

“Hey, guys,” She greeted. “What are you up to?”

“We’re looking for our friend, Blake,” Yang answered.

“Yeah, and we were gonna help them!” Rika exclaimed.

I stared at Rika. “We were?”

“Ohh, you mean the Faunus girl!” Penny corrected.

Maria, Rika, and Team RWY blinked in surprise, with Ruby asking first. “Wait, how did you know that?”

“Uh, the cat ears?” Penny said like it was obvious.

“What cat ears?” Yang asked. “She wears a… bow.”

We all just stood still for a few seconds, a random tumbleweed passing us by. “She does like tuna a lot,” Ruby whispered.

“Wait,” Ashley said. “You guys didn’t know?”

“Wait, you did too?!” Ruby asked.

“Uh, I would think that’s obvious, since we’re faunus as well,” I stated. “I just thought you guys knew. Hasn’t she taken off her bow before?”

Yang thought for a minute. “Now that you mention it, she hasn’t taken off her bow, at least not in front of us.”

Weiss scowled and crossed her arms. “You could have told us that.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no, I couldn’t have. If she didn’t tell you guys, there was a reason for it, along with a reason for hiding it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“So,” Penny brought our attention back to her. “Where is she?”

“We don’t know,” Ruby admitted. “She’s been missing since Friday.”

Penny gasped. “That’s terrible! Well don’t you worry, Ruby, my friend, I won’t rest until we find your teammate.”

“Uh, that’s really nice of you,” Ruby stuttered. “But we’re… we’re okay, really. Right guys?” She turned to face her teammates, but they were gone without a trace. _That was rude._ I looked around for my teammates, but they were gone too. _What the hell?! Why did they leave as well?_

Penny watched as another tumbleweed passed us by. “It sure is windy today.”

I shrugged. “Would you like me to help you find her, Ruby?”

She sighed. “If you want to, I guess. The more, the merrier.”

* * *

“So, Blake is your friend?” Penny asked.

Ruby sighed in exasperation. “Yes, Penny.”

“But you’re mad at her?”

“Yes. W-well, I’m not, Weiss is.”

“Is _she_ friends with Blake?”

“Well, that’s kind of up in the air right now.”

“But why?” _Oh my god, this girl asks too many questions._

Ruby sighed again. “Well, you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was.”

Penny gasped dramatically and whispered. “Is she a _man?!_ ”

“No, no, Penny, she’s-- I don’t know what she is. She didn’t exactly talk to us before she decided to run off.”

“I don’t have a lot of friends,” Penny said. “But if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things.”

Ruby looked away, dejected. “Me too.”

I shoved my hands in my hoodie pocket. “As I said earlier, I’m sure she had a reason for running away, especially if Weiss was there. Even still, I’m sure she could’ve just talked about it.”

Ruby shrugged. “I guess. I just wish she came to us for help.”

We kept walking for a while, and I decided to make some small talk. “On a different topic, what do you think is up with these Dust store robberies?” 

“It must have something to do with that Torchwick guy I fought a few weeks ago,” Ruby responded. “I just don’t know what he might be planning to do with all of that Dust.”

“Wait, backtrack,” Penny said. “You fought Torchwick?!”

She nodded. “On the day I got into Beacon. He was robbing the store I was in, so I did what I could to stop him.” She folded her arms. “He wasn’t arrested, though.”

“Damn,” I said. “Fighting a well-known criminal. That’s, like, one of the most bad-ass things you could do.” I shook my head. “Anyway, do you think the White Fang might have something to do with these Dust robberies?”

Ruby frowned. “They might. I never thought of that. But what would the White Fang be doing working with a human?”

I shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe Torchwick got something they need.”

We heard an explosion in the distance, and we all looked back to see some black smoke rising in the air.

“Oh, no,” Ruby said.

We ran in the direction of the black smoke, and after a few minutes, found ourselves on the roof of a warehouse at the docks where Torchwick had his gun pointed at the monkey faunus on the floor. There was a shipping container of Dust separating them from Blake, who had her weapon drawn.

“Hey!” Ruby shouted, twirling her scythe and embedding it into the ground.

“Oh hello, Red,” Roman shouted back in his annoyingly smug voice. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Ruby, are these people your friends?” Penny asked.

“Penny, get back!” Ruby warned.

Torchwick pointed his cane at Ruby and shot her, sending her halfway across the roof as he laughed evilly. Ruby watched as Penny scowled and walked towards the edge of the roof. “Penny, wait! Stop!”

Penny turned her head to look at her. “Don’t worry, Ruby! I’m combat ready!”

Something opened from her back, and a sword hovered out from it, splitting into ten identical swords. She ran and jumped off the roof, shooting four swords at nearby White Fang members. She gathered them back and started swinging them around, seemingly with her mind. She threw several lackeys into shipping 

containers of Dust, and wiped out a line of them by forming her swords into a spinning wheel of death—whether or not they did die, I don’t know.

“Woah!” the faunus said.

Several airships were raining bullets down on Penny, but she spun her swords in a circle in front of her, while shooting two more into the far wall behind her, and with strings attached to her and the swords, she pulled herself towards that wall. She then gathered up her swords again and spun them around in a circle again, only this time the blades were facing forward at a ninety-degree angle, and charging up a beam of energy. When it was charged, she shot it forward at the ships, splitting each one in half. The broken ships sailed right over our heads and crashed into the water behind us.

“What the _hell?!_ ” I screamed.

Penny then shot her swords at the side of the remaining ship, pulling it towards her like a puppet on its string.

“Woah,” Ruby gasped in awe. “How is she doing that?”

“I don’t have a damn clue,” I said.

She continued pulling the airship, while Torchwick retreated to a different one. Penny then grabbed her strings and threw the airship into multiple shipments worth of Dust, blowing up the ship.

“These kids just keep getting weirder,” I heard Torchwick say, before boarding the ship and taking off into the night sky.

* * *

Not long after, the police arrived at the scene, and I was regretting not involving myself in the fight a bit. The monkey faunus, Blake, Penny, Ruby and I were sitting on some crates that were lying around as Yang and Weiss walked over. Ruby got up and started talking really fast. “Look Weiss it’s not what you think she explained the whole thing you see she doesn’t actually wear a bow she has kitty ears and they’re actually kind of cute.” Weiss just walked past her and towards Blake the whole time, stopping right in front of her.

Blake started talking first as Weiss kept frowning. “Weiss, I want you to know that I’m no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with--”

“Stop,” Weiss interrupted. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been searching for you?” Blake was silent. “Twelve hours. That means I’ve had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I’ve decided…” We all stared at her in silence for a few seconds. “I don’t care!”

“You don’t care?” Blake repeated.

“You said you’re not one of them anymore, right?” she asked.

“No, I-I haven’t been since I was younger--”

“Upupupupup! I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up, you’ll come to your teammates, and not some…” She glanced at the monkey faunus. “Someone else.”

Ruby and Yang smiled, and Blake wiped away a single tear. “Of course.”

Weiss smiled, and Ruby threw her arms in the air. “Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!” Everyone, excluding me, moved closer to Weiss, and she pointed a finger at the monkey faunus. “I’m still not quite sure how I feel about you!” He laughed nervously.

“Hey, wait,” Ruby realized something. “Where’s Penny?”

We all looked around, but there was no sign of the ginger-haired girl. “Where could she have gone?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But what I do know is I need to get back to my team. They left me a few hours ago for some reason, and all this touchy-feely stuff is too much for me. See ya later!”

I boosted myself into the air with electricity and left the docks.

* * *

I was walking through Beacon’s seemingly endless corridors, and I finally caught up with my team. “Yo! What the hell?! Why’d you girls leave me behind like that?”

They all froze and turned to face me slowly, Rika speaking up first. “O-oh, hey Daniel! W-where have you been? We were looking for you!”

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Looking for me, my ass. What’s the real reason you guys left?”

Maria shrugged. “Well, first of all, Blake going missing was none of our business. Second of all, that Penny girl is…”

“A total weirdo,” Ashley said for Maria.

“Yes, that,” she agreed.

I shook my head. “If you think _that_ was weird, you should have seen her take down several airships and White Fang members. Using. Flying. Swords. With. Strings.”

“What?!” They all said in confusion.

I nodded. “Yeah. Believe it. She was using some sort of telekinesis on her swords or something because she made them float. And that’s not all, she shot a laser beam out of them!”

“No way!” Rika cried. “Did you record any of it?!”

I scratched the back of my neck. “That… never occurred to me.”

Ashley facepalmed. “Nice going, Daniel.”

I shrugged. “Anyway, all of that happened after we found Blake and the faunus from earlier fighting Roman Torchwick, with the White Fang.” I chuckled. “I kinda wish I included myself in that fight, I might not ever get that chance again.”

Maria rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Of course _you_ would say that.”

I waved her off. “Whatever. You three, along with Yang and Weiss, still left me alone with Ruby and Penny. You could have just said something.”

Rika laughed nervously. “Sorry! It won’t happen again.”

“All right, whatever,” I dropped the topic. “Anyway, I ate some dinner on the way here, so I’m just gonna head to our dorm. Any of you coming with me?”

“I will!” Rika exclaimed.

“Maria and I will catch up later,” Ashley said. “We’ve got a few things to attend to.”

I nodded. “Alright, see you later.” 

Rika and I headed back to our dorms, and she was bouncing on the balls of her feet while humming a tune I’ve never heard before. I was gonna ask her a question, but her bouncing caused her… _lush_ bosoms to bounce with her, and I got distracted for a split second before instantly turning away and forming something identical to a pencil to spin between my fingers, a small blush on my face. _John was right. They are_ freakin’ huge!

I heard Rika giggle for some reason, and then she leaned towards me and whispered in a playful tone. “I caught you staring~” She stood up straight again. “You really are a pervert, huh?”

“I-it’s not my fault you were bouncing like that!” I exclaimed. 

She giggled again. “I never said it was your fault~ I did that on purpose!”

“W-why?” I stuttered.

“No reason,” she said before speeding off to our dorm. “Hey! Come back here!”

“Gotta catch me first!” she shouted.

The joke’s on her, because I did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, I will do my research before writing another chapter. Also, Grammarly is both a big help and not a big help.  
> And btw, 2319 words in this chapter :D  
> 2319! WE GOT A 2319--  
> Not sorry.  
> I do not, nor will I ever, apologize for being a pervert :p


	14. Training Exercise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (In narrator’s voice) Welcome back. I am your host, Daniel Springs. In this chapter, we delay the second semester because I need more stuff to happen before then. We. Need. Some. BACKSTORY! (Dun dun dun!)  
> We need to know what events have transpired in the past of all the female characters. Which means this chapter will be as long as I need it to be (very long, I’m hoping,) and so I will try my best to make up some not-at-all-subtle excuses for the characters to talk about backstories that make sense, while you all will cast your judgment upon me, whether it be constructive or harsh.  
> Enjoy this chapter!

**_Beacon Academy, Team DAMN’s dorm._ **

**Maria’s POV; first person.**

Today was just like any other school day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon, and my team and I were comparing notes from Professor Goodwitch’s class. I was putting my hair up in a braided bun, having already finished, Daniel already knew some of the material, Ashley was actually taking it seriously, and Rika, as usual, was slacking off playing games on her scroll. We were just about done with it when Daniel spoke up.

“Y’know, I’ve told you all about my…” he paused, thinking about how to phrase it. “Interesting past. But even after our little team-bonding session, I still don’t know much about you girls. I don’t know where you’re from, or what skeletons might be lurking in your closets.” He scoffed. “Shit, I barely know your family members, save for Rika on Maria’s side.” He looked at me. “Do you have any other siblings?”

I shook my head. “Rika and I are the only children in the Naroko household.”

“Parents?” he asked.

“Elizabeth and Harold Naroko?” I was curious as to what he was going to do with this information.

He scratched his neck. “Alright, any mental trauma going on inside that smart brain of yours?”

I thought carefully. “Nothing that could be described as traumatizing, just very long training sessions with my father as he went on and on about the responsibilities of being a hunter.”

“Anyone you got a crush on at this school?”

“No, I’m not interested in anyone at the moment.”

  
  


He raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t press further. “If you say so.” He turned to Rika. “What about you? Got any ex-boyfriends?”

She shook her head tentatively. “No…” Her voice got smaller and she started fiddling with her hair, a sign which I knew meant that she was nervous. “I’m mostly bisexual though, so…”

Daniel crossed his arms and nodded. “That explains a lot, actually.”

She turned to him, surprised. “Wait, you’re not… surprised? That doesn’t creep you out?”

Daniel tilted his head in confusion. “Uh, no? I don’t judge people by their sexuality. If I did, I’d be no better than Team JJCN and RAJR. Besides, I’ve been friends with a lot of gay people, my brother’s boyfriend included.” He put a hand to his chin. “Though, I haven’t officially met him yet. I should visit them soon.”

Rika looked relieved. “So, you don’t mind me being bi?”

Daniel shrugged. “I mean, I shouldn’t mind, since it’s none of my business.” He smiled a bit. “Well, if they’re a jerk to you or us, I’m gonna be hella pissed, but otherwise you’re all good.”

Rika nodded. “Okay!”

He turned to Ashley, who was across the room sitting at the desk. “What about you? Are you an only child?”

She shook her head. “I have an older brother. His name’s Brian, and he can be a dick sometimes.”

Daniel nodded. “Alright, noted. Parents?”

“It’s just my dad, Edward Miller,” Ashley said with a hint of wistfulness in her voice. “My mom died in a car accident.”

“Oh,” Daniel said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine,” Ashley assured. “I just don’t talk about her much.”

“Well,” he stood up and stretched his back. “We all have our secrets, I guess. Anyway, we got some time to kill, what do you girls wanna do?”

“I know!” Rika exclaimed. “Why don’t we spar against each other?”

Daniel clapped. “That’s what I like to hear! It’ll be a good way to test our abilities, and make improvements to our strategies!”

“Now that I think about it,” I said after putting the finishing touches on my hair. “We haven’t yet sparred against each other.”

“And that’s exactly why we’re going to!” Daniel exclaimed. “Onward!”

Rika ran out of the room. “Race ya there!”

Ashley followed suit. “I’m not losing again!”

I facepalmed, but I couldn’t stay annoyed and ran after them. _Yep, these are my teammates, all right._

* * *

Rika beat us all there, spinning around in victory on the raised arena platform. “You guys are slowpokes!”

Daniel put his hands in his front pocket as he walked up to Rika. “Well, I almost got caught by Professor Goodwitch, so I had to slow down.”

Ashley snorted. “You’re just making excuses because you lost.”

“But it’s true!” he insisted.

“Whatever,” she said, pulling out Crossfire and walking up to the raised platform. “Let’s just do this.”

Rika took out Mother Nature and twirled it—her?—around. “I know _I’m_ ready!”

Daniel formed Vendetta and spun it around twice. “I was born ready!”

I stepped onto the platform, unsheathed The Vindicator, and rested it on my shoulder. “So, who’s going first?”

Daniel smirked. “First? We’re all going at the same time!”

“We are?!” we all asked simultaneously.

He laughed. “Why not? It’ll be good training so you know what to expect when taking on more than one person!”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, not everyone is gonna fight eight people at the same time, Daniel.”

He shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. It’s just like if you were fighting Grimm. You’re rarely gonna fight less than two if you become a real huntress.” He spun Vendetta a few more times. “So we’re gonna fight each other at the same time.”

Ashley shrugged. “Alright, why not?”

Daniel smirked. “That’s what I like to hear!” He guided us each to different corners of the arena and took his spot when he was done. Then he formed a flare gun. “When this hits the ground, we all charge at each other.” He looked at us. “You girls ready?” 

We all nodded, and he shot it up in the air. It stayed up for a few seconds, and as soon as it touched the ground, we all leapt at the nearest person. My opponent was Ashley, and Daniel’s opponent was Rika. I swung The Vindicator downwards, but Ashley just dodged to the side, shooting her rapid-fire pistols at my shoulder. Some of them hit me, but I managed to quickly shorten my sword to block the bullets at a fast and effective pace. I extended the blade to its original size and ran at her, using the momentum of the huge blade to slam into her blades, the force of the impact causing her to drop her weapons. They suddenly disappeared in black clouds and reappeared in her hands as she charged me, and I shrunk my sword once again to combat her swift attacks.

“What in the bloody hell?!” I exclaimed.

She shrugged. “My semblance lets me become a shadow, and turn other objects into shadows as well.” 

She was very skilled in using dual weapons, as she knew exactly how to make use of the extra blade. When I dodged one, she would twist her body around to hit me with the other. I couldn’t keep up with her this way, so I grabbed some Fire Dust vials from my belt and threw them at her, using my semblance to activate it and blow them up. She was caught in the blast, but when the smoke cleared, she wasn’t there. I looked around for her, but she appeared above me and kicked me in the back of my head. I recoiled and swung my sword at her, but she disappeared again, so I uncorked a vial of Ice Dust and used my semblance again to levitate it and move it around the arena, freezing anything around me.

“Alright, where are you?” I mumbled to myself. I took a short moment to look over to Rika, who was faring better than I was. She and Daniel were both using long-range tactics, switching to melee when needed. I stopped watching them and observed my surroundings, trying to find Ashley. I heard a faint _whoosh_ and ducked just in time to dodge Ashley’s flying kick. As she soared over me, I swung the flat of my blade into her hip, just to drain her Aura. She tumbled close to the edge of the arena, and used her semblance to retreat to safe ground. 

As she left, Daniel was flung over to my side of the arena, trailing electricity from his hands on the floor as he stopped himself from sliding. Ashley popped up above him and swung her sword into his arm. He changed targets and went after both of us, his Trusty Blasters in each hand. He raised his guns to shoot, but vines grew from the ground and latched on to his wrists, pulling them down, so I took that as an opportunity to punch him in the gut. He doubled over and discharged a wave of electricity that pushed us all back. 

“Are you trying to team up on me?” he asked.

“No,” Rika said. “You were just the easiest one.”

He smirked. “Well then, let’s have a real four-way battle.” He formed his Lightning Saber and swung at the nearest person, which happened to be me, as Ashley and Rika engaged each other. I transformed my blade into a longsword and combatted his spinning technique by using one of my own. It was an interesting exchange, as each time we clashed blades, we would use the momentum from the impact to twirl them around the other way. It was basically just two minutes of us using our twirling techniques against each other.

Once I had gotten tired of that, I transformed The Vindicator back into a wide and heavy broadsword and used the sheer force of the weapon to throw him off-balance. He stumbled for a moment, then he formed his Blasters and shot once behind him to boost him past me, and another in my back. That took off a bit of my Aura, but I still had a lot left. I focused some of my Aura into my blade, and spun myself around a few times before swinging it down onto the ground, creating a powerful shockwave that blew him back a bit. Giving him no time to recover, I picked up my blade, which was still charged with Aura, and swung it into his Saber, creating another smaller shockwave with the impact. We continued to clash blades for a while before Ashley shot at both me and Rika simultaneously. Daniel shot back at her with a machine pistol, but she blocked all of them with her katanas. Rika decided to rush Daniel at the same time as me, and Daniel formed a double-sided Saber to block both of our attacks. Ashley appeared behind him and tried to strike him in the back, but he formed crystals on his back to protect himself. Daniel smirked and jumped up into the air, blasting us from below with his shotguns and landing on his feet with a roll. Rika charged me next, and Ashley turned into a shadow and appeared on top of Daniel, throwing him off-balance. I slammed my blade into Rika’s staff, pushing her back a bit. I took a second to look at our Aura levels on the far wall of the Arena. Rika’s was turning red, already past the halfway point, Ashley’s was a bit above hers from my Ice Dust attack, mine was half, and Daniel’s had barely moved. _Why does he have such a high Aura capacity?_ I looked over to Rika and Ashley, who were both looking at the same thing, and we all got the same idea: to team up against Daniel. We made it very subtle, moving closer and closer to Daniel and Ashley. Daniel seemed oblivious to our alliance, focusing on his current battle with her. Rika and I were just clashing weapons, not doing any real damage. We were very close to them, and Ashley ducked out at the last second as we swung our weapons down on Daniel, hitting him directly. He stumbled for a moment, before smirking widely. “You’re not subtle, you know. But nice try.” He turned his hair blue and swung his Saber down at Rika, who then became paralyzed. He held up his Trusty Blaster and shot her in the stomach as the buzzer was heard. Ashley tried to strike him while he was distracted, but he moved fast, trailing lightning wherever he ran, and hit her in the back, paralyzing her as well. I threw Fire Dust at him and ignited it, but he backed up and shot once again at me. He took a moment to strike Ashley with lightning as another buzzer was heard. I ran at him, jumped up into the air, and tried to slam my blade into his, but he feinted at the last second and paralyzed me as well. _Damn, he’s quick!_ He aimed his blaster at me and pulled the trigger, as the last buzzer sounded throughout the Arena.

He laughed. “That was a nice attempt at teamwork. If we tried that on an actual team in the Vytal tournament, we would actually win!”

Ashley rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, whatever.”

“That was fun!” Rika exclaimed.

Just then, Team JASN walked through the doors, John being really confused. “What the hell just happened?”

Daniel shrugged. “Well, in a nutshell: we got bored and decided to fight each other in a free-for-all, which slowly turned into a three-on-one, and I beat them. The teamwork was good, the plan was not.”

I chuckled and smacked him in the shoulder. “You’re just an egotistical idiot.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But at least I got the strength to back up all the ego.”

“True that,” John agreed. “So what are you guys planning on doing next?”

“Well, we’ve been fighting for…” Daniel checked his watch. “Three hours?! What the hell?!”

“How in the bloody hell have we been fighting for three hours?!" I shouted.

“Uh, yeah,” Nicole said. “It’s already time for dinner. That’s why we’re here; to get you guys.”

“Looks like we gotta go!” Rika exclaimed. We all followed Rika and ran out of the training room. 

* * *

After dinner, we all went back to our dorms, tired from our long fight. It really didn’t seem that long, but as they say, time flies when you’re having fun. We were just about done for the night when Rika spoke up.

“The second semester is starting tomorrow,” she realized. “Has it really been two weeks? Because it doesn’t feel like it.”

“Well, it has been,” Ashley said. “And it’s been great, being here with you three.”

“Aw, is someone getting sentimental?” Daniel asked.

“Oh, shut up,” Ashley retorted.

He laughed. “Yeah, I love you too.”

I just rolled my eyes. “Well, let’s get some sleep. Good night.”

I turned off the lights, and we all fell asleep quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon can jump off a cliff for all I care. *puts middle finger up to the screen*  
> Anyway, I got a few things to say. I need to update the tags and include ‘Swearing’, something I forgot to do a few chapters ago. Also, Grammarly is too helpful. Like, thanks for the input, but sometimes it isn’t needed. But sometimes it is.  
> Also also, I know Daniel is very arrogant. He’s supposed to be like that, for plot and personality reasons. Think of Vegeta from Dragon Ball, but stronger.  
> And lastly, don’t worry, there will be a plot now that we can move on to the canon timeline of Volume 2. (Yes, I know I just said screw canon but I need it a little longer.)


	15. The Best Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet you thought I was gonna make V2 a separate work in this series. You are wrong, HA--
> 
> I don’t care what you say, I nEED Daniel’s POV for this, and yes, I will include him and his friends in a lot of stuff that happens with Teams RWBY and JNPR, for plot reasons (and because it’s fun to write in my POV.)
> 
> (Also, it would seem I'm running out of ideas for chapter names. My brain has to work overtime now.)

**_Beacon Academy, Cafeteria._ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

“Congratulations, team,” I said, clapping my hands together. “We survived two weeks without killing each other!”

Teams DAMN and JASN were sitting on separate sides of a table near a window in the cafeteria, dressed in school uniforms. Ashley was reading, John was throwing grapes that he didn’t want at Valerie, who was smiling while she caught the grapes, Rika hummed and bounced as she ate, Maria was trying to get Rika to sit still, and the twins were gathering different food items and toothpicks and making some stickman… thing. Basically a normal day for my friends.

“Yep,” John laughed. “Only a hundred and six more to go!”

“You make it sound bad,” Valerie said with food in her mouth.

“It could definitely be worse,” Nicole remarked.

“How so?” I asked. 

“Obnoxious teammates like JJCN,” she responded.

“You got a point,” Ashley looked up from her book. “I would hate to be the guy stuck with them. I kinda feel bad for Nick. He doesn’t seem comfortable with them.”

I nodded. “Yeah, he looked a bit confused when they approached me, and during our battle, he just seemed in it to win, defending his teammates like he’s supposed to.”

“Speaking of them,” Neon spoke up. “Where do you think they are?”

I shrugged. “Dunno. Haven’t seen them since then.”

“Well, speak of the devil,” Maria pointed to Team JJCN, who was walking our way.

“Dammit,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Well, if it isn’t the mutt,” Dakota said. “And look, he has his fox friend John with him.”

“Why the hell are you here?” I asked.

“Just passing by,” Joe said. “Y’know, saying hello to the neighbor’s dog.” They all started laughing, except for Nick, who looked a bit upset.

“Y’know, last I checked, I beat you in that fight a week ago,” I retorted. 

Cole scoffed. “And then you got your ass beat by Samantha!” They laughed again.

I stood up. “I’ll fucking beat you again.”

Ashley grabbed me by my hood and whispered. “Don’t react, that’s what they want. If you ignore them, they’ll go away.” I sighed in irritation and slowly sat back down.

“That’s what I thought,” Dakota said. It took all of my willpower not to blast him right then and there.

Nicole scowled. “Just go about your day, and leave us alone.”

“C’mon, guys, we have places to be,” I heard Nick speak for the first time. His voice was a bit deeper than mine, and quiet as well. They rolled their eyes and were about to leave the cafeteria when Nick excused himself. They went on without him, and he looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t looking, then walked back to us, looking directly at me. He stopped at the side of the table I was on and crossed his arms, his eyebrows knit.

“Is what they tell me true?” he asked, his voice normal volume. It sounded oddly relaxing to hear.

“Well, that depends on what they’ve been telling you,” I responded with a bit of suspicion.

“They’ve told me that you’re an arrogant person who steps on others to get what you want and that you like to remind everyone that you think you’re better than them.” His face darkened a bit. “They also told me that you tried to kill Julia. Is any of this true? Because given the way that they act, it sounds more like them than you.”

I could barely comprehend the words he was saying. “Absolutely none of that is true. Anything that they’ve told you is a lie to try and get you to be against me. Julia tried to kill  _ me _ by stabbing me and throwing me off a cliff. I may be an arrogant person, but I don’t think I’m better than everyone.”

He nodded. “You are a very strong person, though.”

“Thanks, I think,” I shrugged. “They’re the ones who step on others. I’ve known them for years, I did nothing to them to provoke them.  _ They _ are just bullies, and it’s really unfortunate that you got them as teammates.”

He scratched his head. “Yeah, it’s annoying having to deal with them every day, and I’ve only known them for two weeks, I can’t imagine being on the receiving end of that for  _ years _ .”

I nodded. “Welp, now that you know the truth, if you ever wanna get away from it all, you’re welcome with us anytime.”

He smiled a bit. “Thanks. I have to get going now.” He turned around and left the cafeteria.

“He’s nice to listen to,” Rika said.

“Yeah, I could fall asleep peacefully if he told me a bedtime story,” Valerie agreed.

“Well, now that that’s been cleared up--” 

“FOOD FIGHT!” somebody yelled behind us.

“Wait, what?” I asked nobody in particular. I looked around and saw that almost everybody was running out the door in a panic, as the cafeteria was a big mess, and Nora had somehow stacked multiple benches and tables on top of each other.

“I’m queen of the castle! I’m queen of the castle!” she yelled in a singsong voice.

“What the  _ frick?! _ ” John shouted. “How did she  _ do _ that?!”

Ruby jumped onto a table, squeezing a small carton of milk. “Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be delicious!” Her teammates all jumped up in agreement.

“Off with their heads!” Nora shouted as she jumped down from the bench tower.

John looked at us. “Should we leave?”

We all looked at each other, thinking the same thing. “Hell no!”

We got up, and from the messy floor, I grabbed a baguette, John grabbed tomatoes, and Ashley grabbed two soda cans. I scanned the cafeteria for a free opponent and saw that Ruby was not doing anything, so I ran up to her and swung my baguette at her, but she dodged at the last second, grabbed a tray and ground on a row of tables and threw a potato back at me, but I caught it and threw it back at her with more strength. I missed and hit Ren instead, who threw four eggs back at me. I deflected them with my baguette, grabbed a plate, and threw it at him like a frisbee and it hit him right in the chest. I was gonna finish him, but I got hit in the head with a tomato from John. I looked back at him in betrayal.

“Hey, I never said we would team up!” John shouted.

I smirked back at him. “Alright, you asked for it!” I grabbed a plate and ran at him with my baguette. He kept on throwing tomatoes, but I blocked them all with my baguette. When I got close, I tried to strike him with it, but he grabbed a watermelon and broke it over my head. I stumbled for a bit, and y eyes turned red with adrenaline. I threw my plate at him to keep him distracted, then I ran past him, grabbed a tomato he dropped, and threw it at his face when he turned around. It hit him right in the forehead, and he fell to the floor with flare.

“I’m down!” he declared dramatically.

“That’s what you get for--” I was interrupted by a tray smacking my forehead, causing me to drop the plate I was holding, breaking it. My vision swam for a minute before realizing that Valerie had hit me. “What the hell?!”

She smiled. “Just protecting my leader!” She swung her tray at me again, but I dodged and threw the baguette at her back. It broke on impact and she fell in defeat like John. I looked around for my teammates and saw Rika fighting Jaune with watermelons and Maria fighting Pyrrha with a fucking  _ table _ , while Ashley was battling Nicole, who had bottles of mustard as her weapons _. _ I also found Nora had used a metal pole and watermelon as a hammer to whack Weiss, who was flung into a stone column that crumbled with the force of the impact, and she would’ve been crushed by the fallen rocks if not for Ruby, who grabbed her midair in a bridal carry. I went towards Nora since she was free. I grabbed two intact baguettes and threw one at her like a javelin. It struck her in the shoulder, and she looked around to find where it had come from. By the time she found its source, I was already in front of her and smacked her hip with the other baguette, which somehow didn’t break. She grabbed her watermelon hammer and struck me with it, sending me flying to where Neon was hiding. Surprised, she just stared at me for a second.

“Just decided to drop in,” I said to her. “By the way, your teammates were defeated by me.”

She quickly grabbed eggs and threw them at me, blinding me for a minute, which was enough time for her to run away. I wiped it off my face and ran after her, throwing plates as I ran. Many different foods were thrown across the cafeteria, and I had to dodge incoming projectiles as I trailed Neon. When she had nowhere to go, I grabbed a tomato and threw it at her, but Nicole had suddenly appeared and squirted her bottles of mustard at me. I rolled to the side, taking cover behind a flipped table, and the rest of my teammates soon joined me.

“There’s too many of them!” Rika cried.

“Jaune and Pyrrha are back in the fight as well,” Maria said.

“We need a plan,” Ashley chimed in.

“All right,” I clapped my hands together. “Here’s the only plan I could think of.” I picked up a bunch of eggs and tomatoes from the floor. “We get as many of these as we can, and make a run for it.”

“That’s not a very good plan,” Ashley said. “But it’s the only one we’ve got.”

“On three, we go,” I held my fist up. “One, two, three!”

We got our eggs and tomatoes and popped out from behind the table, throwing our gathered food items at the nearest people, which happened to be Team JASN, who had gotten back up and tried to ambush us. They got splattered with yolk and tomatoes. I heard Yang get smashed into the roof, making a huge hole, Pyrrha using her semblance to throw a bunch of soda cans into Blake, and John and Valerie got caught in the crossfire. My team and I crouched back down behind the table as Ruby ran across the cafeteria, creating a horizontal tornado of food, drinks, and plates. Our table got swept away, and us with it as Ruby stopped right at the far wall, making a dent in it as we, along with Team JNPR, slammed into it. As we looked up, the tornado of food engulfed us as we were pelted with plates, sodas, and broken tables. The aftermath created a colorful pattern on the wall as we fell to the floor, splattered in the same color pattern.

Just then, Glynda Goodwitch burst through the doors looking furious. She used her semblance to repair everything that had been broken and put everything back in place, down to the last table.

“Children, please,” she pushed up her glasses. “Do not play with your food.”

We all gathered around on different benches facing each other as Nora belched loudly, and Yang came crashing through the roof in front of her team. As she got up and dusting herself off, we all started laughing at the absurdity of it all as Headmaster Ozpin calmed Professor Goodwitch down.

“That was fun!” Nora shouted.

“Was it worth the punishment we might be getting?” Maria asked with a smile.

“Absolutely!” Rika, Ruby, Valerie, and John exclaimed.

“It was a pretty good food fight,” Blake agreed.

“The best food fight I’ve participated in,” I said. “And I’ve been in a few of them.”

“Probably not a good thing,” Nicole snickered.

I turned to Pyrrha. “That was bad-ass, what you did with the soda cans.”

“It was nothing,” she said. “You did pretty well against Nora.”

“I still can’t believe how much my team and I got hit!” John laughed. “That was a pretty good counterattack for our ambush, Daniel.”

“Thanks,” I mock-bowed in front of them and pointed to the right of me. “Ren was pretty good against Yang too, with those celery stalks.” He gave me a thumbs-up. 

“Would you all do it again?” Weiss asked.

“Without hesitation,” I quipped. “But maybe next time it will be with our real weapons.”

“Can’t wait!” John shouted.

“Well, we should get going now,” Maria said. “We’ll see you all later.”

We said our goodbyes and left the cafeteria to enjoy this day of no classes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~2k seems to be the new average of my chapters. I hope that’s a good thing.  
> I won’t start The Second Year just yet, I have a few plans to put into action before I do. Just know that it won’t be like the volumes of RWBY, because the time between volumes isn’t a whole year. I have some big plans for when we get deeper into the story.  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, have a good day!


	16. Hanging Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter’s late, I had so much stuff to do today. I hope you enjoy this chapter, one that’s in a POV we haven’t seen before!

**_Beacon Academy, Library._ **

**Rika’s POV; first person.**

My team and I, along with Team JASN, were split up, sitting on different sides of the same table while going over the next history assignment we had. Daniel and Ashley were on John and Valerie’s side, while Neon and Nicole were on mine and Maria’s side. Our table, at least the side Daniel is on, was right next to Team JNPR. Pyrrha and Ren were trying to study, Nora was sleeping on a book, and Jaune was reading a comic book. Pyrrha cleared her throat and took it away from him, only to start reading it herself. Team RWBY, however, was playing Remnant: The Game and Ruby and Weiss seemed to be losing.

“They’re obnoxiously loud for a library, aren’t they?” Maria asked.

“Yeah,” Ashley agreed. “They don’t seem to know what ‘quiet’ is”

“We could always go somewhere else with all these books,” I suggested.

Daniel snorted. “You guys just aren’t trained in the art of ‘tuning out.’”

Nicole scoffed. “And you are?”

“Yes, actually.” He smiled. “I swear, when my brother snores, the whole house quakes. And yet, I’m still able to read.”

John laughed. “Oh boy, I remember that. Daniel’s right, you guys will  _ never _ understand that. Like, I would wake up in the middle of the night because his snores would scare me.”

“Remind me never to come to your house,” Ashley said.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Daniel assured. “I don’t think he’ll be home for a while. I hope he is, though.”

At that moment, the monkey faunus from a few days ago, along with a dude who had spiky blue hair, walked up to Team RWBY’s table, next to Blake. “‘Sup, losers?”

“Hey, Sun,” Ruby greeted.  _ So  _ that’s _ his name! _

“Ruby, Yang, Blake.” He looked at Weiss. “Ice Queen.”

“Why does everyone keep calling me that?!” Weiss asked.

“I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend,” he continued.

“Uh, aren’t libraries for reading?” the blue-haired dude asked.

“Thank you!” Ren shouted.

“Pancakes!” Nora shouted, having woken up from her sleep.

“Shut up, don’t be a nerd,” Sun said to him.

“Eh-eh-eh! Intellectual, okay? Thank you.” He turned back to Team RWBY. “I’m Neptune.”

“So, Neptune, where are you from?” Weiss asked suggestively.

“Haven,” he answered. “And I don’t believe I’ve caught your name, Snow Angel.”

“Um, I’m Weiss,” she responded.

“Are you kidding me?!” Jaune whisper-shouted to himself.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Neptune said.

“Flirting alert,” John whispered to Daniel, making a gagging sound.

“Shut up, you’re the same way,” he retorted.

“Ouch, my pride,” John laughed quietly.

“I never took you as the board-game-playing type!” Sun said to Blake.

“Right,” she said. “Well, I think I’m done playing, actually.” She got up from her chair and started to walk away. “I’ll see you guys later.”

We all watched Blake walk away, and Nora shrugged dismissively. “Women.”

“You’re a woman too, y’know,” I said as the rest of Team RWBY followed Blake.

“Wait, Neptune,” John spoke up. “You said you were from Haven Academy?”

“Uh, yeah,” Neptune responded. “Sun and I are on the same team.”

“My brother goes to Haven Academy!” Daniel exclaimed.

“Well, what’s your brother’s name?” Sun asked.

“Jaxson Springs,” Daniel answered. “He has purple hair? Boomerang?”

“Very gay?” John chimed in.

“Ooh, him!” Sun laughed. “That’s your brother?”

Daniel smirk. “Yup, he’s the leader of Team JADE,” 

“He’s one of the coolest guys around,” Neptune said. “Well, besides me.”

“So you’ve met him?” John asked. 

“Have we?” Sun asked incredulously. “He’s a party animal! We hang out all the time!”

“Yeah, definitely sounds like him,” he chuckled. 

“Uh, Daniel,” I spoke up. “Don’t we have some stuff to do?” 

Daniel snapped his fingers. “Oh, right. Well, guys, we’ll talk another time, my friends and I are a bit busy at the moment.”

“Alright,” Neptune said. “See you guys later.” They turned around and left the library.

“Everyone seems to have colored hair,” Ashley pointed out.

“That’s true,” I said. “The only ones who don’t have colorful, natural hair are you and Nicole, unless you count Daniel even though he can change it.”

“Then I don’t count in that regard,” Daniel said. “Since my blue hair is still technically natural.”

I clapped my hands. “Well, let’s get back to our assignment.”

* * *

After two whole hours of mind-numbing boredom, also known as schoolwork, we finally finished our work and headed to our dorm. When we arrived, I threw myself on my bed and looked out into the evening sky. “Work takes too long. Why do we even have to learn history anyway?”

Daniel shrugged. “I guess it’s because there’s a reason for everything. But since all that work is over, and it’s so quiet in here, you guys wanna go to Team JASN’s dorm?”

“Yeah,” we all said. We got up from our beds and walked out of the dorm. Team JASN’s dorm was only a few doors down, so we were there in no time, and Maria knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Nicole answered the door.

“Oh, it’s you guys,” she said. “Come on in.”

We nodded our heads and stepped inside. John looked up from his scroll and waved. “Yo, what’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Daniel responded. “Just really bored from studying.”

Valerie laughed. “It’s not that bad.”

“Well, it was history,” I said. 

“Oh god, it  _ was _ that bad,” John laughed. “How long?”

“Two whole hours,” Daniel groaned.

“I don’t understand why you all are complaining,” Maria said. “It’s not like Professor Port was teaching us himself.”

“You got a point,” Ashley agreed.

“Well, now that you’re here,” John began. “What should we do to pass the time?”

“Well, I think that before we start,” I said. “We should exchange contact information. We’ve been here for more than two weeks but we don’t have each other’s numbers.”

Daniel nodded. “That’s true, we forgot all about it. Well, let’s get to it then.” We spent about five minutes to give each other our scroll numbers and contact info, and Daniel remembered something. “John, we never called our parents!”

Realization dawned upon him. “You’re right! We said we would do that when we met again! Let’s do it now!” He scrolled through his contacts and found his parents. He video-called them and waited, putting it on speaker. “So you can all meet my parents as well.”

We waited a few seconds, and they finally picked up as a relatively tall female fox faunus appeared onscreen. She was wearing glasses like Professor Goodwitch, revealing bright green eyes, and she had orange, medium-length hair tied into two separate ponytails that stopped at her shoulder blades. She looked into the camera and adjusted her glasses. “Hello? John?”

“Mom, hi!” John greeted. “You’ll never guess who I found here at Beacon!”

“Well, tell us then!” Another fox faunus came into view, and he had orange eyes with lighter colored orange hair in the same fashion John did, along with an orange stubble beard as well. voice said.

“Even better, I’ll show you!” He pulled Daniel into view, who waved at the camera. John’s parents’ eyes went wide with shock.

“Is that… Little Daniel?!” His dad asked. “It is! We haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Oh my goodness, look at how much you’ve grown!” his mom gushed.

Daniel smiled. “It’s been a while.”

His dad squinted. “And who are all of the pretty girls behind you two?”

John laughed. “They’re our teammates. This is Valerie Simmons.” He pointed to Valerie, who smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you!” she said.

He gestured to his left. “And these are the twins, Neon and Nicole Annorose.”

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hawkin,” They greeted.

“Please, just call us Tiffany and Miles,” his mom said.

They nodded and John smiled. “Those three are part of Team JASN, with me as the leader.”

Miles gaped. “You’re the leader?! You never told us!”

“I meant to, but I just forgot about it,” John rubbed the back of his neck. “Anyway, this is Daniel’s team. This is Ashley Miller.” 

She nodded. “Nice to meet you guys.”

John pointed to the right. “And these are Maria and Rika Naroko.”

Maria bowed. “It’s a pleasure.”

I smiled brightly. “We’ve been wanting to meet you guys for a while!”

“The pleasure is ours,” Tiffany smiled back.

“That was Team DAMN, and Daniel’s the leader,” John grinned.

“I always knew you could be a leader, Daniel,” Miles said. “John, not so much.”

“Wow, where’s the faith?” John laughed.

“We have faith in you,” Tiffany assured. “But we never knew either of you would have such beautiful teammates. Maybe one of them will turn out to be your girlfriend. I hope they can look past your perverse nature.”

We blushed, and Daniel laughed as John groaned. “Mom! I don’t need your help to get a date!”

“With that many girls as friends, that statement might be true, after all!” his dad laughed.

“Alright! We get it!” John exclaimed. 

“We’re only teasing,” Tiffany said. “You know we love you.”

“Yeah yeah, love you too,” John chuckled. “Well, we’ve gotta go now. See you soon!”

“Alright, fair enough,” Miles said. “Call again soon.”

“Bye!” we shouted. 

John hung up and sighed. “They’re gonna be the death of me one day.”

“I think they’re very nice!” I said. “I wanna meet them in person one day!”

Daniel smirked. “And it’s not like they told us anything we didn’t know.”

“Shut up!” John exclaimed. “You’re a pervert, too!”

“And I will proudly admit it!” Daniel retorted.

“Alright, settle down, you two,” Maria said. “What should we do now?”

“Just talk, I guess,” Nicole suggested. “I mean, we don’t have much else to do this late.”

“Fair enough,” Ashley said. We split up in pairs to talk, Daniel with Ashley, John with Maria, Valerie with Nicole, and me with Rika. I sat down with Neon on her bed and smiled at her. “Hi!”

She looked confused. “Uh, hi?”

“We rarely get to talk,” I said. “Are you shy?”

She nodded slowly. “Nicole usually does the talking. I’m... very introverted.” She said the last part quietly.

“That’s not a bad thing,” I assured. “Lots of people are introverted.” I grinned. “Honestly, I like your shyness. It’s a part of who you are.”

She smiled. “Thanks. No one’s ever said that to me before.”

We sat in silence for a minute, when Neon looked at me strangely, then back at herself. I tilted my head questioningly. “What’s up?”

“Your boobs are so big,” Neon said with a small blush. “Mine are so small…”

I laughed with a blush of my own. “Well, you just need to eat healthily and drink a lot of milk. At least that’s what Maria told me years ago.”

She nodded. “I’ll… keep that in mind.”

There was a bit of silence, and I smiled mischievously. “Would you like to touch them?”

She blushed harder. “U-uh, no thanks.”

I giggled. “I’m just teasing. Anyway, what do you like about me?”

Neon thought for a second. “I like your cheerfulness and confidence. I also like how it seems you can make friends with just about anyone.”

I smiled brightly and squeezed her in a hug. “Thank you!”

Daniel got up. “Well, it looks like we should go now. It’s getting pretty late.”

We all agreed, and my team and I stood up with him and said our goodbyes. I gave Neon one last hug.

“We should talk more,” I said.

She smiled softly. “Yeah, we should.”

I let go of her and we left their dorm, headed towards ours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first time writing a chapter like this, with all the softness(?). I hope I did it right.  
> Also, I completely forgot the fact that Daniel was supposed to call John’s parents, so there you go.  
> The (very unclear to you) plot thickens!


	17. Cornered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t write in Team RWBY’s POV at this time, since it would be the same as rewatching the series, and I don’t want this to be like that. So, until I get to the point where I can divert from canon, Team RWBY’s POV will not be used. And by 'divert from canon', I mean to have them be awkward gay mush.

**_Beacon Academy, Team DAMN’s dorm._ **

  
  


**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

I had been walking through the courtyard by myself for an hour, admiring the castle that is Beacon, and all of the other buildings, such as the dorms and the cafeteria. It was all just so grand. I took out my scroll and captured that very moment, with the sun right behind the tallest tower.  _ I’ll send this to my parents. _ I put my scroll back in my pocket and continued to walk around the academy. I saw several students walking on the grass, and a few more looking at the statue in the middle of the courtyard. I looked up at the sky and saw nothing but a blue sky, the only clouds being on the horizon.

I smiled to myself and headed back to the main building, and as soon as I turned down a hallway, I saw Teams JJCN and RAJR walking in my direction. They were laughing at something and had their eyes closed, so I immediately turned in the opposite direction and speed-ran away from them before they noticed. They saw me just before I turned down a hallway. 

“Hey, that’s Daniel!” Dakota yelled.

“Get him!” Sarah shouted.

I heard their footsteps quicken, and I ran as fast as I could to the end of the hall and turned sharply around the corner, hoping to hide from them. I heard them stop, no doubt to look for me.

“Where’d he go?” Joe asked.

“I swear I saw him!” Dakota cried. “That blue hoodie is unmistakable!”

“Well, other people wear the same hoodie,” Nick said. “It could’ve just been someone else.”

Cole shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s just go.”

I heard them walk away, and I sighed in relief. I started to move away from my spot slowly, but then I heard a whoosh behind me, and a hand grabbed my hood, preventing me from running away.

“Here you are!” Audrey smiled wickedly. “You thought you could hide from us?”

The rest of them followed seconds after she caught me, with Dakota looking smug. “I knew it! I told you, there’s no mistaking him!”

I growled. “What the hell do you want?”

Audrey slammed me against the wall. “Hey hey, that’s no way to talk to your upperclassmen, now is it?”

“Couldn’t give any less of a fuck,” I retorted. “You’re all still the same assholes from years ago.”

Julia faked sadness. “Oh, come on now, Daniel. What about all the good times we had?”

My eyes turned red and I narrowed them at her. “Don’t  _ fucking _ test me.”

She laughed. “You can’t even do anything, lest you risk getting your own ass in trouble.”

“And you wouldn’t want that, now would you?” Samantha mocked.

I clenched my fists. “I’ll ask you again: what the hell do you want?”

“Oh you know,” Dakota said. “We were just passing by and decided to say hi to the neighbor’s dog.”

“That joke’s getting real old, Dakota,” I growled. I glanced at Nick for a split second, who was staying out of this encounter completely.  _ He’s the only good guy here. _ “Why don’t you just let me go?”

“Why would we do that?” Sarah asked.

“Because you have no business here,” I heard Maria say.

I looked to the left and saw my teammates standing at the corner, their arms crossed. Ashley and Maria were scowling, and Rika looked very upset, which I bet is the closest she can get to angry.

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “Leave him alone.”

“Or what?” Samantha asked. “If we can beat Daniel in a fight, what makes you think you three have a chance?”

“Because there’s actually seven of us,” I heard John remark smugly. He and his teammates came from the opposite hallway, surrounding us.

“You still can’t beat us without Daniel,” Joe said.

I smirked and used electricity to give Audrey a small static shock, causing her to release my hoodie. Then I moved almost as fast as her to stand by my teammates. “Well, now I’m here, so I’m sure we could beat you.”

Samantha scowled, and Nick spoke up. “Come on guys, let’s just go. No use for you to be getting in trouble again.”

Dakota harrumphed. “We’ll meet again.”

  
  


“I sure hope not,” Nicole growled.

They all turned and walked in the direction of Team JASN, Dakota purposefully bumping into John’s shoulder. Valerie stopped him from retaliating as the teams walked away from them.

I looked at my friends. “Thanks for that. I thought I’d have to get myself in trouble to escape.”

“That’s what friends are for!” Rika exclaimed.

“Be careful next time,” Maria warned. 

Valerie turned around and looked in their direction. “I don’t understand why people just decide to bother others. What’s the point?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out for years,” I said. “And I still haven’t. At least Cardin wasn’t here as well. I actually might’ve done something I shouldn’t have.”

John shrugged. “Well, they’re gone now, so let’s go.”

“Go where?” I asked. 

“Well, it’s been a while since we sparred together,” he said. “I think we should test our abilities again.”

I smiled. “You’re on!”

“Here we go again,” Neon mumbled to herself.

We walked through the hallways of Beacon into the training room. It was 3:12, classes had ended a little while ago, so no one was occupying it. John and I stepped up on the arena, we walked in opposite directions and turned around, facing each other.

“Even after all these years, I still know how you fight,” John said. “I know how to win this. My strength and Aura have increased since the last time we fought.”

I scoffed. “Well, that should be obvious. Everyone’s strength and Aura increases with time and training.”

He chuckled. “You know what I meant!” 

I formed Vendetta and assumed a defensive stance. “Well, let’s see how much you’ve improved.”

He pulled out Wildfire, twirled it around, and pointed it at me. “Let’s.”

“Are you ready?” Ashley asked. We both nodded. “Begin!”

John used his explosions to propel himself forward at a blinding speed, aiming to strike me with the double-headed spear. I quickly rolled to the side, attempting to hit him with Vendetta. He dodged and threw Wildfire at me, which I smacked aside with my sword. I then formed my Trusty Blaster and shot him from where I was, but it didn’t do much. I enlarged Vendetta a decent amount, and threw it at him, grazing his shoulder. He extended his hand out to me, and I was caught in an explosion, which took off a small amount of my Aura. 

“You may have gotten the first hit,” he said while running. “But I did more damage. Speed isn’t always key.”

I smirked. “I mean, that was just what I needed.” I shattered Vendetta from where it had landed after hitting John and reformed it in my right hand, returning to its original size. I aimed my Trusty Blaster behind me, shooting myself forward and gaining speed, and attempted to strike John, but he blocked it with Wildfire’s shaft. We clashed for a few seconds, before I shot under myself, blasting me above John. I then shot again at his face, and he tried to dodge, but he wasn’t quick enough and so a chunk of his Aura was drained. What I didn’t realize, however, was that he wasn’t trying to dodge. Something under me blew up, and I was caught in another explosion, this one draining my Aura more than the last one. I jumped back, guns at the ready.

“Nice try,” he said. “But not good enough.”

My smirk widened. “I’ll show you good enough.” I jumped up in the air, sailing over John, only to blast myself back down towards him fast, just before punching him in the chest, a wave of electricity pulsing outwards from where I struck, and he went flying across the arena. I looked over at the board and saw that my attack had dropped John’s Aura more than fifteen percent, leaving him at slightly above half. I looked at my own, which was just under seventy-five percent. I looked back at John, who was already standing, and able to attack me again. I spun Vendetta around twice in my hand and charged at him. He was ready to dodge to the side when I swung my sword down, but he didn’t move far enough as I had charged Vendetta with electricity, and he was caught in the electric blast. He fell to his knees, but he was only faking it as he still managed to blow me up one more time, but this one was more powerful than the last two combined. It cost him a bit of Aura, but I took a lot more damage since I wasn’t prepared. My aura was at forty-five percent, while his was thirty-nine. I jumped away from him, putting some distance between us.

“I told you I’ve improved,” he said.

“Never doubted it,” I responded. “But I’m still gonna win!”

“Not with this!” He ran at me with his hand pointed at the ground, trailing fire behind him. Just as he got close, he swung his arm up, and a wall of flames blasted me backward.  _ Hot! HOT! _ I landed dangerously close to the edge of the arena, skidding to a stop just in time.  _ Alright, this is my last chance. _ I closed my eyes and concentrated for a second, listening to my surroundings. I heard John running at me and the flames behind him crackling. I opened my eyes, and there was another pulse of electricity around me, stopping John from reaching me. I jumped up, sailing above and landing behind him. He quickly turned around and blocked my strike with Wildfire, but I kept up a rapid barrage of attacks to force him to stay on the defensive. He moved to the side and struck my left hip, but I spun around and struck him in the back with a charged Vendetta, and the buzzer was heard as he landed on the floor. I shattered Vendetta and walked over to him, extending a hand to help him up. “That was a good fight.”

He laughed as I pulled him up. “Damn it, I lost again. What the score now, zero to fucking fifty?”

I laughed with him. “Probably. Just keep on improving and someday you’ll be able to match me.”

Our teammates walked over to us and Rika was laughing. “Did you say ‘zero to fifty’?”

John pouted. “Don’t rub it in.”

“Hey, it’s not like he’s the only person you’ve battled,” Valerie consoled him.

“Yeah, there’s plenty of other people to beat,” I agreed. 

“Just you wait, Daniel!” John shouted. “I’ll beat you one day!”

“Keep on dreaming!” I shouted back.

“How did we get stuck with these two?” Nicole asked.

“I have no idea,” Maria said.

“Wouldn’t trade you guys for anything, though!” Rika exclaimed.

We all laughed in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daniel’s not invincible, but he’s damn near it. After all, if he’s survived death, he has a right to be.  
> I know I said I would write a different fanfic in September, but I may have to delay it since I have NO FREAKING CLUE WHERE TO START--  
> Basically, *wait.*


	18. Having Fun Yet?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a looong note, so listen up, you wonderful bunch of fanfic-loving people, and thank you for taking the time to read it.  
> I’m going to include my characters in almost everything that I can, including the Torchwick mech fight, although there will be some alterations to the canon battle. Remember, this story is mostly about them. Now I know that you guys know that Daniel is overpowered, but believe me, he’s not. Not compared to the villains I’m planning for this story. Teamwork is everything, even when one of them is ten times stronger.  
> Another thing is the ships in the tags. They are the main focus, I’ll tell you that, but they come much later in this story, most likely right before The Second Year. This is slow burn fanfiction. Like this work alone is probably going to be 40+ chapters, and if I’m being honest, that’s probably the minimum. It’s because my main focus right now is the plot and adventure. If you’ve read Hester_Of_Ravenwood’s series, “RWBY, but Pollination Style”, it’s pretty much like that (shoutout to him and a bunch of other writers for inspiring me btw.)  
> For those of you who are disappointed at what I’ve stated, I’m sorry. For those of you who understand, thank you for reading this very, very long note.  
> Without further ado, please enjoy this chapter.

**_Downtown Vale._**

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

It was almost 8 pm, and my friends and I were at an arcade in Vale because we were determined to have as much fun as we can in a single day since, as Rika had put it, “homework is boring and we deserve a break.” We were playing many different games over the past four hours and winning a bunch of tickets that we could exchange for prizes, and the best part was that the tickets were stored in the cards we used to play the games. John and I decided to try and beat each other’s scores in a few games, and we were tied four to four. The last game in our competition was Skee Ball, one of my all-time favorite games. He scored three hundred points with the nine balls he got, and I was on my last ball with two hundred sixty points.

“You can do it, Daniel!” Rika cheered me on.

I focused on the fifty-point hole at the top. If I missed it, the ball would roll down to the ten-point hole. I had to aim for the fifty, otherwise, John would win. I took a deep breath and rolled the ball up the ramp, and it hit the rim of the fifty-point hole before bouncing off of it and into the hole.

“ _Let’s go!_ ” I shouted enthusiastically. Ashley, Rika, and Maria gave me high fives while John laughed.

“That was a hell of a shot,” he said. “I guess you win.”

“It was a good competition,” I reassured him. “The first two shots you had were both fifties.”

“Well, now we see how many tickets we each won,” Maria said. “Let’s go back to the ticket station.”

We walked back to the station and combined all of our tickets to see the total, and it came out to…

“Three hundred eighty-one thousand?!” John exclaimed. I think that’s more than we’ve ever gotten!”

“You _think?!_ ” I shouted. “This is more than ten times the most we’ve ever gotten!”

“Well, there were eight of us playing, and we were there more than four hours,” Neon pointed out. “Still, that is a lot of tickets.”

“What should we get?” Rika and Valerie asked simultaneously.

John put a hand to his chin. “I think we should wait for the next time we come here, so that way when we get more tickets, we can split it evenly and we’ll all have more than a hundred thousand.”

“Makes sense,” Ashley said. “But where should we put the cards for safekeeping?”

“Somewhere in our dorms,” I suggested. “Let’s find out later, it’s getting pretty late.”

They all agreed, and we left the arcade to go back to Beacon. As we walked, I heard a sound in the distance, like glass shattering. Soon after, something like an explosion was heard throughout the city as the ground continuously shook, as if something big was running around.

“What in the bloody hell was that?!” Maria cried. 

“That!” Valerie pointed to a large mech running down the streets, chasing two people jumping across roofs that looked like… Sun and Blake?

“Should we help them?” Rika asked.

“Obviously!” Neon exclaimed.

“Let’s split up and corner it!” I shouted. “Come on, girls!”

My team and I headed directly toward it while Team JASN ran ahead a few blocks to catch up. We used our semblances to get there faster, but it seemed it was way too fast for us. Then an idea formed in my head.

“Girls, over here!” I yelled. They came back to me and I formed a makeshift catapult large enough to hold all four of us, before using a large blast of lightning to shoot us off toward the mech, which was already on the highway. I thought I had used too much power as we flew over the mech, but as we reached the ground, I realized I didn’t use enough. The mech was going at least twice as fast as the cars on the highway and had already passed us as we landed on different cars. I formed my Trusty Blasters and boosted myself toward the mech as fast as the powerful recoil would allow as Ashley turned into a shadow, and Maria and Rika rode on activated Ice Dust in the air. We were catching up to the mech that was crashing through cars, and a car almost collided with me, so I formed a crowbar long enough to grab the wheel’s axel, and with all my strength combined with my now blue hair and red eyes, threw it back at the mech. It seemed to know the car was coming, as it boosted to the side to dodge it. Ashley tried shooting at it with Crossfire, but it did not affect the mech. Yang and Neptune drove past us on her motorcycle, dodging flying cars bouncing dangerously close to them. He unfolded his weapon and shot from his lightning-powered rifle at the mech, hitting all his shots directly. He then turned his rifle into a spear with an electric tip and jumps onto the mech, successfully impaling it, but the mech tried to shake him off as he was holding on to his spear for dear life. Sun creates light clones of himself to distract the mech as he jumps over, but it threw Neptune away and made him collide with Sun as they fell off the highway. Weiss then dropped down from a highway above us and used Ice Dust to make the mech slip and fall off our current highway, down onto another one with Ruby waiting with her scythe and no cars in sight. We all dropped down with it and assumed defensive stances on all sides of the mech.

“Fancy seeing you girls here!” I shouted. “What the hell did you do this time?”

“It’s a long story!” Ruby yelled back.

The mech started to move toward Team RWBY as Ruby yelled “Freezerburn!” She and Blake jumped backward as Yang jumped up in the air and Weiss made the ground solid ice. As Yang fell back down, she cocked her gauntlets back and punched the ground, creating a cold mist that obscured the mech field of view. _Smart move._ I jumped at the mech, staying out of sight of the mech’s targeting lasers, and whacked it with a newly formed Vendetta, and it turned to shoot me, but I wasn’t there anymore. Ashley moved around in shadow form and tried to damage the targeting lasers, but it turned around again, inadvertently dodging her. She tried again, but a laser targeted her and shot a missile, sending her back to us. Two lasers caught sight of Yang and shot twice at her, but she was faster. It shot again at both Yang and Blake, but they ran off as Ruby hit it in its face, knocking it back a little.

“Checkmate!” she exclaimed. Weiss and Blake ran at the mech, hitting its legs with their blades and forcing it to walk back more. Weiss jumped off of a glyph to puncture two of the lasers, jumped off another glyph, and landed on the ground. She used another glyph to boost Blake backward before the mech could stomp on her. The mech then fired off more missiles and the monochrome pair had to backflip multiple times to dodge. Weiss jumped off of another glyph to try and attack it, but it shot lasers at her, knocking her back. While she was in mid-air, she used some type of Dust I wasn’t familiar with, as it was yellow and extended like a string toward Blake, and when it hit the ground, there was a glyph with rotating gears on it. Whatever it was, it accelerated Blake as she was able to slice every missile that had come her way, and they all exploded mid-flight.

“Ladybug!” Ruby shouted while running toward the mech. I nodded to Maria and Rika, who tried to disable the mech’s legs by using vines and Earth Dust in the nooks and crannies. Meanwhile, Ruby shot herself forward with her scythe along with Blake and attacked the mech’s underside, before shooting herself back toward it with Blake doing the same as they sliced at the mech’s legs, going back and forth a few times until the mech shot lasers at them again, only for them to jump up in the air and slice one of the arms off when they came back down. It turned around just in time for Yang to run up and punch its back and proceed to barrage it with blasts from her gauntlets. It drove itself backward and crashed Yang into several stone columns. As she fell, the mech turned around and punched her through another column. She got up slowly as the mech tried to punch her again, only for her to stop it right in its track. Her eyes glowed red as she reared her arm back and punched the mech’s remaining arm to pieces in one hit. It kicked her away, past Ruby and Blake.

“Bumblebee!” Ruby shouted. Blake threw her weapon at Yang, who caught the ribbon attached to it and used the centrifugal force to try and kick the mech again, but it backed away and she came circling back to her team.

“We have to slow it down!” Ruby cried.

“And how do you suppose we do that?” Weiss asked.

Ruby smirked. “Ice Flower!” She swung her scythe around before plunging it into the ground, aiming her sniper, while Weiss formed white glyphs in front of it. When Ruby’s shot hit the mech, a cluster of ice formed where its arm used to be. They tried to do it again, but it managed to shoot one more missile at them, forcing them to break up and dodge.

“Where are you, John?!” I shouted.

“Right here!” I heard him say. He and his team jumped from another highway above us, and he landed on the mech with a huge explosion, absolutely shattering it. Roman Torchwick fell out of it and dusted himself off as he stood up. “Just got this thing cleaned!” 

Yang and I looked at each other, as she fired off a shot from her gauntlet, with me launching a lightning bolt at the same time, aiming at Torchwick. Just before our shots connected, however, a small woman with a parasol blocked both of our shots like it was nothing. When the smoke cleared up and she turned her parasol up, I saw she had pink and brown hair with a white streak on the side.

“Aw, crap,” I said.

Torchwick tipped his bowler hat to us. “Ladies and gentlemen.” He smirked at Weiss. “Ice Queen.”

“Hey!” she shouted indignantly.

“Always a pleasure,” he said as he put his hat back on. He glanced at the shorter woman. “Neo, If you would?” 

The woman in question bowed down, but we weren’t gonna let them get away so easily. Yang shot herself forward as Nicole aimed her sniper and Ashley and I raised guns, and we all shot at the same time. Just as Yang and our shots connected, though, Roman and the woman named Neo shattered like glass, and they weren’t there anymore. We all looked around and heard a ship taking off with Roman and Neo inside. With a roar, it flew into the night sky, far away from us. We all ran up to Yang.

“Damn,” Valerie cursed. “We were too late!” 

“So I guess he got a new henchman,” Yang said.

“Yeah,” Weiss agreed. “I guess she really made our plans… fall apart?” She snickered to herself, and we all stared at her, unamused.

“No,” Yang said. “Just. No.”

“What? But you do it!”

“There’s a time and a place for jokes.”

“Was this not it?”

“No, it just wasn’t very very good.”

“Well, at least I’m trying!”

“Wait, where are Sun and Neptune?” Ruby asked.

“Oh yeah, they got knocked off the highway,” Rika remembered. “I wonder where they went?”

* * *

Sun and Neptune were eating some noodles at A Simple Wok, not far from where the big fight had taken place.

“They’re probably fine, right?” Neptune asked Sun.

“Probably,” he answered.

* * *

“Eh, we’ll look for them later,” John said. 

“In the meantime, let’s congratulate ourselves on taking on Torchwick!” I said. “After all, it’s not every day when you fight a well-known criminal!”

“Of course,” Maria facepalmed.

“Hey, it was fun!” Rika defended me. “I think today classifies as the most fun we’ve had!”

“Oh yeah,” Nicole said sarcastically. “Ending off the day with a battle against a machine built for military combat. Awesome.”

“Hey, it was awesome, even if we weren’t there for the whole time,” John grinned.

“Whatever, let’s just go back to Beacon,” Weiss said.

“You know,” Rika started. “I thought your joke was funny!”

Weiss gave her a small smile. “Thank you, Rika.”

We were about to walk back when we all remember something.

" _We're in the middle of the highway!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon has been altered. It’s not the first time, though. As I said, there will be romance in future chapters, but it’s gonna take a while. Bear with me here.  
> Besides that, let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that this is the 18th chapter, and we’re nearing 500 hits! Thank you so much to everyone who read this! I feel better when I see how many people clicked on this story, even if they didn’t continue.  
> Before I go, I have something I would like to say to future writers: Get Grammarly. It’s fast and easy to install, and it’ll help you get better at writing.


	19. Extras

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Labor Day, this will be a small collection of shorts that are supposed to fill in the gap for this small time skip!  
> All extras are in the general third-person view.

**_Beacon Academy, cafeteria._ **

Teams DAMN and JASN were sitting together the day after they had come back from fighting Torchwick. They, along with Team RWBY, had a bit of a reprimanding when they arrived, and now they were eating breakfast on a Saturday morning. Animate chatter was heard around the table as Team DAMN filled Team JASN in on what transpired in the battle before they had arrived. 

“And then Maria and I stopped the mech’s legs using our semblances,” Rika said. “While Ruby and Blake attacked it, going back and forth! And then they jumped up in the air, and when they came back down, they sliced one of its arms off! It was awesome!”

“Man, I’m gonna forever regret not getting there in time,” John whined. “My dramatic entrance was for nothing!”

“There’s always next time,” Neon said.

“There better be!” Daniel exclaimed. “I didn’t even  _ do _ much!”

“Uh, you  _ threw _ a  _ car, _ ” Ashley reminded us.

“Yeah, but he dodged it!” he cried back. “It would have been much cooler!”

“Well, you can’t change the past,” Valerie said. “But we can change the future.”

“True,” Rika agreed.

“Actually, I did have something to ask you, John,” Daniel remembered. “When we fought the other day, I noticed you didn’t have Blizzard with you. What happened?”

John started scratching the back of his neck. “Well-- that’s a very interesting story… I, uh, I might have… misplaced it?”

…

“You  _ lost _ your weapon?!” all of Team DAMN screamed.

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” he assured. “The last place I had it was in the dorm.”

“We’ll help you find it,” Daniel said. 

“Alright, let’s go then!” Rika stood up. “The search for Blizzard begins!”

_ *cue Fortnite’s Pumpernick emote music as they search the dorm for an hour* _

John sighed as he stood up straight. “I can’t believe I lost Blizzard! I probably could have beaten Daniel if I had used it!”

Daniel scoffed. “Yeah, ‘cause one gun would have made all the difference.”

Rika patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep looking until we find it!”

“We’ve already been here an hour,” Nicole complained. “Are you sure it was in here, John?”

“Well, I wouldn’t have lost it outside!” he said. “I always make sure that I have it on me or put away in my… wait…” He walked over to his bed and reached between the headboard and the mattress, pulling out an ice blue revolver with snowflakes decals near the chamber. “Oh. Here it is. I forgot I put it there.”

…

Everyone facepalmed so hard, there was a rumor that it was heard all the way in Vacuo.

* * *

I would rate this short PS for Perverted Stupidity. This happens two days after the mech fight, one day after the previous short.

Also, I’m pretty sure that Beacon has a gym, otherwise, every other fanfiction I’ve read is false (no offense, it’s a joke.)

* * *

Neon was walking to the school’s gym by herself, wearing a pastel pink tank top and sweatpants with white sneakers. She didn’t have much confidence in her physical strength, and her semblance wasn’t exactly made for combat like her friends, so she thought she should try to get stronger, and what better way to do that than to lift some weights? She’d been eating healthy for the past few weeks since coming to Beacon, and she had grown a little bit since then, but she still needed to get stronger like everyone else. Nicole had often offered to help her train, and she almost always accepted, but this time was different. She wanted to prove she didn’t need help, especially if she wanted to become a huntress.

She entered the gym, expecting it to be empty. It almost was, save for Rika who was using a power rack nearby. She was wearing a green sports bra with white stripes on the side that somehow contained her large breasts—but made them look a bit bigger—and grey yoga pants with green running shoes. She was sweating a little as she pulled herself up, and her breasts bounced a little when she reached the top, as well as when she let herself down. It was entrancing as she flexed her arms when she pulled herself up.  _ She’s… stunning.  _

She wasn’t as toned as her sister, who also wasn’t overly buff, but it was noticeable now that she wasn’t wearing her casual long-sleeved dress. Rika might not have abs, but she still had visibly toned biceps, and she still thought it was better than her own physique.

She was so mesmerized by Rika’s glistening body, she didn’t notice when she stopped and walked over to her with a small sway in her hips. “Like what you see?”

Neon blushed hard as she realized Rika had caught her staring. She stuttered trying to come up with an excuse, but Rika just laughed. “I’m just teasing. I assume you came here to train?”

Neon nodded. “Y-yeah, I was hoping to get some exercise in this week.”

“Yay! You can be my partner!” Rika exclaimed. “Come on, let’s go!” She grabbed Neon by the hand and led her to the weight-lifting area. She picked up two ten-pound dumbbells and handed them to Neon. “Here!”

Neon took them from her. “Thanks.”

Rika nodded and picked up two twenty-pound dumbbells for herself. Neon watched as she pulled them up to her shoulders one by one. She was flexing her arms even more now, and Neon couldn’t look away. Rika noticed and took it as an opportunity to tease her more.

“You know, you can feel my arms if you want,” she offered. “You keep staring, so if you wanna get a better look, just say so!”

Neon blushed even harder but decided to take her up on her offer. Rika put the dumbbells down and let Neon touch her arm. She could feel every muscle in Rika’s arm as she glided her hands from her elbow to her shoulder. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy, though. “How do you get your arms like this?”

Rika smiled. “Well, depending on how often you work out, two to three weeks. You also have to keep watch of what you eat and how much. For me, it took about two and a half weeks, and I’m still not where Maria thinks I should be.”

“Maybe it’s because of all the sweets you eat,” Neon teased.

Rika pouted. “I can’t help it, they’re so tasty!”

“If you eat them too much, you’ll get fat,” Neon said. 

“Well, so far it’s all just gone to my breasts,” Rika laughed, holding said body parts up with her hands. 

Neon blushed. “Okay, you can stop now.”

“Oh, come on!” Rika giggled, bouncing them up and down. “I know you wanna touch them, don’t you?”

Neon had finally had it, and she moved Rika’s hands away and grabbed Rika’s breasts carefully, feeling them out.  _ Wow, they’re so big and soft, even through her sports bra. _ Neon realized just what she was doing and retracted her hands violently as though she had been burned, and stammered out a bunch of apologies. “I-I’m sorry, I--”

Rika bust out laughing with a slight blush. “I… I didn’t think you would actually do it!”

Neon blushed so hard she looked like a tomato. “Y-you made me!”

She stopped laughing and put a finger to her lips. “Don’t worry, this will be our little secret.”

Neon was too embarrassed to form coherent words, so she just nodded.

* * *

After finishing her training session with Neon, Rika went back to her dorm and threw herself on her bed, stuffing her face into the pillow and blushing.

_ S-she really touched me! I didn’t think she would, but… why did I enjoy it?! _


	20. Friends and Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time skip from the shorts represents however much time was skipped in V2C5, but as for an exact amount, they don’t say, so I don’t know. Let’s assume it’s a week.

**_Beacon Academy, amphitheater._ **

**John’s POV; first person.**

Many students, my friends and I included, were sitting around the amphitheater watching Pyrrha Nikos fight a freshman named Mercury Black. It would have been an interesting fight, but he called it quits after only a minute, much to the crowd’s—and Pyrrha’s—disappointment. With that being the last school activity we had, we walked through Beacon’s hallways, discussing the event coming up this weekend.

“Who are you gonna ask to the dance, Rika?” Valerie asked. “I haven’t picked yet.”

“Me either,” Rika admitted. “I have a few people in mind, but we’ll have to see how it goes!”

“What about you, Daniel?” I asked smugly. “You finally gonna dance for us?”

“Shut up, don’t be an ass,” Daniel laughed. “I might not go dancing, but I’ll be there. Maybe I’ll even change my mind when the time comes.”

I shrugged. “Alright, fair enough. Ashley, what about you?”

She frowned a little. “I don’t know. I’m not really the dancing type, and I’m not an extrovert like you guys.”

“Well,” I said. “You’re friends with us, so you gotta have _some_ social skills. And who knows, you might learn a thing or two about dancing just from being there.”

“It’s not that easy, John,” Maria said. “You don’t just stand there for an hour and suddenly understand dancing.”

“You know what I mean!” I waved her off. “I’m saying she might pick something up from others.”

“I get it,” Ashley said. “But I still might not go.”

“Ah, well,” I shrugged. “Maybe next time, if there is one.”

We were gonna go down to Vale since classes were over, but as we neared the exit, we saw a team of guys we’ve never seen before at the door. The guy in front was a tall wolf faunus with purple hair and eyes, wearing a purple hoodie and brown slacks with black sneakers. The guy behind him was a cat faunus with brown hair and orange eyes, like mine, and he was wearing an orange shirt with a gray jacket over it, and blue denim jeans with black combat boots. Another guy was to the cat faunus’ left and he had blond hair and green eyes with dark brown skin, and he had a blue denim jacket over a black and yellow striped shirt, with dark blue jeans and white running shoes. And the last guy, on the cat faunus’ left, had olive skin and black wavy hair, was taller than Daniel and had reddish-brown eyes. He was wearing a red and white plaid flannel shirt, black denim jeans, and Timberland boots. I didn’t recognize the other three, but Daniel and I knew exactly who the purple-haired wolf faunus was.

“Jaxson!” Daniel and I shouted at the same time. We ran over and tackled him to the ground in a hug.

“Hey, it’s Daniel!” Jax exclaimed. “And John! I haven’t seen you in a hot minute! Now would you mind getting the _fuck_ off of me?!”

We rushed to get off of him and I helped him off of the ground. “Sorry. It’s just been a long time!”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt… whatever this is,” the blond guy said. “But what’s going on?”

Jax turned to his team. “This is my little brother Daniel, and that’s his best friend, John ‘Hot Boy’ Hawkin.”

“Ooh,” the blond dude exclaimed. “I’m Evan Caplan.”

“And I’m Darwin Sanders,” the black-haired guy said. “We’ve heard so much about you two!”

“Oh yeah?” Daniel asked, looking at Jax suspiciously. “Like what?”

“Like how you’re filled to bursting with confidence,” Evan said.

Daniel shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“And how you try hard to get what you want!” Darwin exclaimed.

“True,” I said.

“So _this_ is your brother, Daniel?” Rika asked, walking over to us with the rest of our friends.

He nodded. “Yep, the one and only.”

Darwin looked taken aback. “Who are all of these beautiful girls and why are they following you?”

I deadpanned at him. “These are our teammates.”

Jax shook his head. “Nuh-uh, they are way too hot to be _your_ teammates.”

Daniel smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Uh, excuse us, do you think we can’t have teammates that are girls?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Jax smirked back.

“And who’s this guy?” Valerie pointed at the brown-haired cat faunus.

“Uh, I’m Sean,” he said. “Sean Arson.”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Jax pulled him in for a side-hug. 

“Ooh, so _you’re_ the guy my brother won’t shut up about,” Daniel said. “Interesting.”

“But anyway,” Darwin spoke up. “Who are these girls?”

“Oh, yeah,” I remembered. “These three are my teammates: Valerie Simmons and Neon and Nicole Annorose.” They all waved.

“And these are my teammates,” Daniel said. “Ashley Miller and Maria and Rika Naroko.”

“Wait, you two are the leaders?” Jax asked.

“Yep,” I said. “I’m the leader of Team JASN, and he’s the leader of Team DAMN.”

Evan smirked. “Nice.”

“So what are you doing here, Jax?” Daniel asked.

“We came here with Sun and Neptune,” he answered. “For the Vytal tournament and the upcoming dance.”

“Ah, we were just discussing that,” I said. “The dance, I mean. We were gonna head to Vale for a bit, but I guess we can stay here.”

“Yeah, I wanna test Jax again,” Daniel said. “We have this thing, every time we meet, we have to fight each other at least once.”

“Oh yeah,” Jax remembered. “Not right now, though. I’m tired.”

Daniel snickered. “You’re always tired.”

“Yeah, of your bullshit,” he retorted.

“My bullshit has nothing to do with your exhaustion, especially when I haven’t seen you in person in almost a year.”

“So then imagine that!”

They both glared at each other, and started laughing. 

“They’re a bit weird, aren’t they?” Evan asked.

“Absolutely,” we all agreed.

* * *

I’m sorry that this is so short, but I need it to be short for the upcoming chapter. In the meantime, enjoy this little extra!

* * *

Daniel and Sean were walking in the courtyard. He had asked Sean to come with him for a bit so they could talk. This had made Sean a little nervous, but he didn’t let that stop him. They sat down on a bench, hands in their laps.

“So, how long have you been dating my brother?” Daniel asked.

“It’s been a little over a year now,” he answered. 

He nodded, smiling. “I see.”

The silence stretched out for a bit, before he continued. “If I know my brother, I know he makes good decisions. I’m not trying to threaten you as many people would, but just know that I hope you don’t mess it up, for both of your sakes. I don’t know you very well, but if Jax chose you, you must be a pretty good guy. I wouldn’t want to see either of you get hurt. Okay?” He held out his hand.

Sean nodded and shook Daniel’s hand. “I understand.”

He grinned. “Good. However, I’m still gonna test your strength, if you don’t mind.”

Sean smirked. “Gladly. I’ll see you in the arena soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, Evan, Darwin, and Sean are not my characters. Evan and Darwin belong to my older sister, while Sean belongs to one of my younger sisters. I got permission to add them to this story for plot purposes.


	21. Shut Up and Dance - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone’s getting ready for the dance, but before that, we’re just gonna jump right into the fighting, which happens a few hours after Jax’s team arrives at Beacon. Also, in case I didn’t make it clear, Jax’s team is JADE: Jax Springs, Sean (pronounced Shawn) Arson, Darwin Sanders, and Evan Caplan.

**_Beacon Academy, training arena._ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

“You’re really gonna fight him  _ now? _ ” Darwin asked Jax as he stepped up onto the arena.

“It’ll be fine,” he replied. “We do this every time we meet.”

We stood across from each other on opposite sides of the arena. I formed Vendetta and spun it around in my right hand, and Jax pulled out a large boomerang with a brown leather grip in the middle with his like-colored leather gloves from a sheath on his right hip. He threw it up and caught it in the other hand, holding it by one of the sharp edges. 

“You ready?” he asked me.

“Born ready,” I answered.

“Begin!” Darwin shouted.

Jax threw to boomerang at me, aiming it in a way that it would arc from the right and hit me in the side. I backflipped away, turned Vendetta into a spear, and threw it right at him, but he caught it with his leather gloves. He caught the boomerang, but before he could throw my spear back at me, I shattered it in his hands from where I was, reformed it into a normal cross-guard sword, and ran at him to strike. He grabbed his boomerang by the edge again and used it as a melee weapon and we traded blows back and forth. I formed my Trusty Blaster and shot at the floor, boosting me upwards. While midair, I aimed my second shot at Jax, but he extended his boomerang into the shape of a bow and used his semblance, Aura Manipulation, to form an arrow of purple light, letting it fly and hit me in the chest. I landed on my feet, formed six small shurikens, and threw them at him, three at a time in each hand. Two of them hit, while he dodged the other four. He formed three more purple light arrows and shot them at me in rapid succession, but I just deflected them with Vendetta, coming up close and personal to strike him in the chest with a burst of electricity, taking off a bit of his Aura. His semblance requires Aura to activate, but that takes away from the Aura used to negate lasting damage. 

He got up and grabbed his boomerang again. “You’ve definitely improved.”

I smirked. “Well, you know what they say. Practice makes perfect.”

My hair turned blue as I charged my sword with lightning and ran at him, but he sidestepped and hit me and the back with his boomerang, which was also charged with Aura. I stumbled around for a bit, having lost balance. I stopped tumbling and turned around, using the momentum of the stumble to throw an electrically charged Vendetta at Jax, with the sword trailing lightning behind it as it spun through the air. He simply dodged it like it was nothing, but then I heard a voice inside my head that wasn’t mine, as everything seemed to slow down immensely.  _ Touch the lightning and focus, _ it said. Curious, I touched the trail of lightning with my index finger, feeling it course through me. I concentrated deeply, and then I moved  _ through _ the trail of lightning, appearing behind Jax almost instantaneously. I grabbed my sword from where Jax had dodged it and struck him in the side, sending him tumbling out of bounds, and the buzzer was heard. Everyone, including me, had gone silent as the gravity of what I just did sank in.

Jax was panting at that point. “What… in the actual  _ fuck… _ did you just do?”

I looked at my hands in disbelief. “I… I don’t know.”

John laughed. “That was  _ fucking awesome! _ Do it again!”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I can. I don’t think I did it on purpose.”

Darwin shrugged. “Well, whatever that was, it was great.”

“Now I want a rematch!” Jax exclaimed.

“Settle down,” Sean said. “Maybe later. Shouldn’t we be helping with the ballroom for the dance later tonight?”

“Nah, I think Team RWBY, Sun, and Neptune are fine by themselves,” he answered. “At least, I  _ think _ Sun and Neptune are helping.”

“Speaking of,” I began. “You hang out with them?”

Jax laughed. “Only every day! They’re some of the coolest and funniest people around!”

“He goes out partying like, every other night,” Darwin said. 

“We met them a few days ago,” I told Jax. “They were at the library when we, along with Team RWBY and JNPR, had been studying.”

“Or, in Team RWBY’s case,” John said. “Playing  _ Remnant: The Game. _ ”

We walked out of the room, heading towards the dorm building. Team JADE had been given a place to stay while they were here, an extra dorm room in the building. We parted ways and my friends and I went to our dorms to get ready for the dance later tonight. 

* * *

I stepped out of the closet, wearing a baby blue tuxedo and pastel pink tie that I had bought about a week ago for this very occasion because after having second thoughts, I had decided I was gonna go. I wore a white button-down shirt under the suit, along with beige trousers and shiny black leather dress shoes to go with them. I never was fond of suits, but I liked the way this particular one looked on me. I stepped out of the walk-in closet and looked at the Naroko sisters, who were already dressed. Maria had a blood-red long-sleeved dress that went down to her knees and complimented her hair, which was tied up in a bun with two straight locks in the front trailing down to her waist. She wore red, one-inch heels with a thin strap around the ankles. Rika had a similar dress, but it was green, had short sleeves, and went down a bit above the knees. Her hair was still styled the same, but she had two small daisies on either side of her hair. She also wore green three-inch heels, much to her chagrin.

“I don’t like heels!” she pouted. “You can’t move around in them!”

“It’s your fault for not learning how to walk in them,” Maria said. “I’ve tried to teach you, but you never listen.”

“You tried to teach her how to walk in heels?” I snorted.

Maria deadpanned at me. “This isn’t the first time we’ve attended a formal party like this, y’know.”

I nodded. “It’s not really formal, but I see what you mean. Well, you both look beautiful.” I looked around the room. “Wait, where’s Ashley?”

“Right here.”

I turned around and saw her standing in front of the bathroom door, wearing a long, midnight black dress with thin straps on her shoulders and ruffles below the waist, and black heeled boots. She did her hair in a side-swept bang style that really suited her.

“How do I look?” she asked nervously.

“You look absolutely gorgeous!” Rika exclaimed. 

“And elegant,” I added.

Maria nodded. “It really suits you.”

Ashley blushed. “I thought it over, and I’d rather go with you guys than stay here by myself.”

I nodded, smiling. “Well, shall we go to the dance?”

“We shall,” she smiled. 

I opened the door for the girls, and we walked to the ballroom, where everyone else was already dancing. Yang was at the host stand at the entrance, wearing a simple white dress that went down to her knees.

“Oh, hey guys,” she said. “You’re all looking fancy!”

“Thanks,” I nodded. “Did you see Team JASN come through here?”

“Yeah, I think they’re over there,” she gestured to a table with a fruit punch bowl.

“‘Kay, thanks.” We waved at her and walked over to the table to find Team JASN, and sure enough, they were drinking some punch. John was wearing a light grey tuxedo with a white undershirt and black tie, dark brown slacks with a like-colored belt, and brown leather shoes. Neon was wearing a pink ball gown with a frilly skirt that seemed to be made out of a tulle-like material and stopped just above her ankles, and she had pink high-heeled boots. She had also let her hair down instead of keeping it in its usual twin braided ponytails, and it was long and wavy. Nicole was wearing a yellow off-the-shoulder dress which stopped above her knees and had short ruffled sleeves on her biceps, but the dress itself was smooth, and she wore white heeled boots that were a little higher than Neon’s, and she had her hair in a simple ponytail at the back. Lastly, Valerie was wearing an indigo sheath dress which showed off her curvy figure, ending right on her knees, and wore navy blue strapped slippers.

Valerie turned around and saw us. “Hey, guys! You all look amazing!”

“And you four as well,” Maria nodded. 

“And Ashley decided to come after all!” John clapped. “Now, who wants fruit punch?” 

We all grabbed plastic cups and served ourselves some punch as we raised our cups together. “Cheers!” 

After we drank our punch, we all wandered around and mingled with other people. I saw Blake and Sun dancing together in my peripheral vision, and I looked up behind me to see Ruby and Yang standing on a balcony overlooking the ballroom. All in all, everyone here was having a great time.

* * *

After a little while, I saw my friends dancing in pairs. Rika was with Neon, Valerie had Nicole, and John had Maria.  _ Huh. I didn’t know he planned to ask Maria to dance, but I knew Rika was gonna go with Neon. _

I felt someone tap my shoulder, and turned around to see Ashley smiling at me. “Hey.”

I laughed. “Did you see John managed to ask Maria to dance?”

“Really?” she looked behind me and saw them dancing together. “Wow, never thought he would do it.”

“Yep, he’s never successfully asked a girl to dance with him,” I explained. “And we’ve gone to several parties and weddings before.”

She nodded. “Well, good on him.”

We stood in silence for a bit, before she spoke up. “Uh, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot,” I said. 

She blushed a little and clasped her hands out in front of her, her ears twitching. “Uh, w-would you… like to… dancewithme?” she said that last part very quickly and quietly, even for me.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I tilted my head a little.

“Would you… like to… dance with me?” she said slowly, blushing profusely. 

I smiled softly and held out my hand like a gentleman. “If you would be so kind?”

She chuckled and took my hand, and I led her to the dance floor. A slow song was playing as we danced together, my left on her right, and my right hand on her back. We danced like that for a few minutes, until we heard laughing come from behind us. We were both confused, so we looked behind us and instantly broke down laughing when we saw Jaune wearing a white dress, asking Pyrrha to dance. Soon after, though, the music started to pick up, and the rest of our friends showed up around us.

“Come on, you guys!” Rika shouted. “Let’s dance!”

We both looked at each other and shrugged, laughing and dancing with the crowd.

Little did we know that something bigger was happening here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, one of the main points in this story done! What will happen to our huntsmen-in-training? Will they see the bigger picture? Or remain oblivious to the nefarious plan? Find out next week, on “The First Year”!
> 
> (I’ve always wanted to say that.)


	22. Shut Up and Dance - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably stop writing notes about canon divergence and me including my characters in every possible event since you already know that’s what’s happening. If you don’t like it, the door’s right there, I won’t stop you. Then again, if you’re reading this right now, you’ve made your decision to stay and bear with me. Whoever has stayed, thanks a million. Whoever has left, oh well.
> 
> Also, thank you all so much for almost 600 hits!

**_Beacon Academy, ballroom._ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

Team JADE showed up not long after us, and somehow Jax managed to convince Sean to come to the dance.

“Sorry we’re late,” Jax said. “It was hell convincing Sean to come. I had to promise him that we would eat out and have some macaroni and cheese later.”

Rika laughed. “Macaroni and cheese? Can I come too?”

Sean shook his head vigorously. “It’s a two-person thing.”

“Getting macaroni and cheese is a two-person thing?” I asked.

“If it’s a date, yeah,” Jax deadpanned.

“Ooh, that makes more sense,” Valerie nodded.

“Now, if you guys don’t mind,” Evan said, fixing his collar. “We’re gonna go dance.”

“That’s fine, I’m gonna go get some fresh air,” I waved at everyone and left the building. I inhaled deeply, loosening my tie a little.  _ They may look fancy, but they’re honestly death traps. _ I could’ve stayed longer, but one can only be in a loud, crowded room for so long as a faunus before it starts to get annoying, even if one’s used to the noise. I stood a few meters outside the entrance, looking at the night sky behind the academy buildings. As I looked, however, I noticed a dark figure running and jumping across buildings.  _ That’s not good. _ I decided to follow them to wherever their destination was, silently and sneakily. Thanks to my enhanced vision, I kept track of them the whole time, and the chase ended at the CCT Tower. I peeked behind a wall, and upon further observation, I noticed the figure was a black-haired woman, wearing a black mask on her face and a suit seemingly designed for combat and stealth. She was also crouched behind a wall near the Tower’s entrance, where a guard was watching for trespassers. She dashed behind another wall, and the guard just barely saw the movement, walking slowly to where she had been hiding, and then she appeared behind the guard and knocked him out with a karate chop to the neck. He dropped his weapon and she dragged him behind a bush and walked inside the Tower. Within seconds of her entering, fighting was heard inside the building, and I quietly ran into the building. I looked around for the masked woman, but she was nowhere to be found. I heard a sound like a rocket crashing outside and soon after, Ruby ran inside, ready to attack with her scythe, Cresent Rose. She was surprised to find me, and also very skeptical. “What are you doing here?”

“I was chasing someone here,” I quickly explained.

Her eyes widened. “You saw the dark figure too?”

“Yep, it’s a woman wearing a black suit and mask. I think she took the elevator.” I gestured toward the closed doors of the elevator, as well as the many incapacitated guards on the floor.

She nodded. “Let’s go.”

We ran inside the elevator, and I formed Vendetta as we were going up. When the doors opened, we walked out cautiously. Ruby looked around at all the screens on desks. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“Not the best idea to let anyone know we’re here, Ruby,” I said.

Suddenly, the masked woman stood up from behind one of the desks, looking directly at us.

Ruby tilted her head slightly. “Excuse me? You know, it’s not a masquerade party, so why don’t you take off that--” Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the woman taking a small black item out of a pocket and forming glass crystals from a cloud of dust and shooting them at Ruby and me. We blocked the crystals and Ruby shot several times at the woman, but she blocked those bullets as if there was an invisible barrier. Ruby then whipped around Cresent Rose and fired at the ground, propelling herself upward before somersaulting and swinging her scythe down at the woman as I fired twin pistols at her. She backflipped away, forming a strange glass-like bow and shooting three arrows at the same time. They exploded on impact, pushing Ruby backward, but I dodged them and threw Vendetta at her. I jumped back to where Ruby was, ready for another go, but we all heard the elevator ding, and General Ironwood was standing inside. We looked back at the woman, but she was nowhere to be seen.  _ What? _

“What are you two doing up here?” he asked sternly. “And with your weapons?”

“Well, I, uh…” Ruby stuttered.

“Was it you two who incapacitated the guards?!” he raised his voice.

“Sir, I can tell you it wasn’t us,” I said.

“Well, the unconscious guards tell me otherwise,” he growled.

“We were chasing a masked woman in a black suit up here,” I explained quickly. “We were fighting her right now, but she got away.”

He scowled. “Can you describe her appearance, then?”

I gestured to a corner of a wall, where a security camera was watching over the whole room. “You can check the footage for a better description than I can give.”

His scowl lessened, and he walked to a desk with a monitor on top, reviewing said footage of us fighting a masked woman, and his scowl returned full force. “It seems I owe you two an apology. You should go back to your team before something happens.”

“Yes sir,” I walked inside the elevator with Ruby.

“Oh, and I commend you two for trying to apprehend a trespasser,” the general said. “But you can only do so much. Next time, alert the authorities.”

I smiled and adjusted my tie. “Yessir.”

The elevator door closed and we rode in silence.

* * *

Ruby and I walked back to our teams, and they welcomed us back.

“Where were you, sis?” Yang asked.

“It’s a long story,” she said.

“And one best not discussed here,” I added. They looked at us skeptically, especially Yang, but they let it go. 

“Anyway,” John said. “You kinda missed a good portion of the dance. Things are starting to wrap up, Evan and Darwin went back to the dorms, and Jax and Sean went to get Mac ‘N Cheese.”

“Really?” I asked. I looked at my watch. 12:00am.  _ Damn, that whole fiasco lasted twenty minutes? I suppose it’s all that running. _ “Well, you guys wanna head back now?”

John grinned and adjusted his tie. “Yessir.”

Everyone else agreed and we made our way past the diminishing crowd to the dorm building. I stopped walking for a second, having forgotten my scroll at the ballroom. “You guys keep going, I just gotta go get something real quick.”

“Alright, we’ll be waiting for you,” Maria said.

I nodded and walked back towards the ballroom. Once there, I looked at the table and found my scroll. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I was about to head back, but then I had an idea. I looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then I formed Vendetta in my right hand. “Let’s see if I can do what I did earlier.” I threw an electrically charged Vendetta across the room and tried to touch the lightning trail, but I wasn’t quick enough. I shattered the sword before it could touch the ground, and formed it again. “Let me try again, a little bit quicker.” I threw Vendetta again and touched the lightning this time, trying to concentrate, but nothing happened. Once again, I shattered Vendetta before it touched the ground. “How did I do it before? One more time.” I charged Vendetta one last time and touched the trail, but this time, it actually worked, even though I only made it a foot away from where I was. “That felt weird but awesome! Now I better get back to my team before they wonder where I am.” I walked away, but then I heard the same voice in my head as last time.

_ You have no idea what’s going to happen next, do you? _

I stopped abruptly, looking around me. “Who are you?”

_ All will be revealed in due time. I shall see if you are worthy of your power. _

I scowled. “Who are you to determine that?”

I heard laughing.  _ I am you, Daniel Springs. _

“How could you be me?!”

_ You’ll find out. Farewell for now. _

“Come back here!”

I waited for a reply, but the voice had disappeared. “What the hell?”

I heard footsteps coming from in front of me, the direction I was supposed to be going. Ashley had come back to get me. “What are you still doing here?”

“I was looking for my scroll,” I half-lied.

“Alright, well, everyone’s waiting for you.” She turned around and walked back to our dorm and I followed her, all the while thinking about the voice in my head.

_ Worthy of my power? I spent ten years working on honing my semblance to be as powerful as it is now, I’ve been bullied for almost as long as that, I’ve even fucking died! If that isn’t worthy of my power, nothing else is. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the mark of a new story arc. I’ve been waiting to write this ever since I started writing this fic. I have many reasons for writing this, but this was one of the main ones.


	23. Mission Start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got nothing witty to say, so I guess we’ll just jump right in!

**_Beacon Academy, main building._ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

The day after the dance, Ruby and I were brought to Headmaster Ozpin’s office, and we told everyone else why afterward. Today, all of the students were dressed in the school uniform while Ozpin was giving a speech.

“As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort, which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace, huntsmen and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first-year students, you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the kingdom for several days. Others may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best.” He walked off the stage and all of the students, including us, applauded and walked around the mission selection area.

“So, what mission should we pick?” Rika asked excitedly.

“Well, given our skillset, I think we’d be good for a Village Security mission,” I said. 

“That’s a good point,” Maria agreed.

“I wonder who we’ll be shadowing, though,” Ashley murmured.

“Whoever it is, I’m sure they’ll be awesome!” Rika exclaimed.

“Alright, Village Security it is!” I clenched my fists. We walked over to the list that Team RWBY had just left, and selected the mission at the top. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with. Increased Grimm Activity, Quadrant 4, Mission Start: ASAP. Team name: DAMN. Alright, let’s do this!”

“Yeah!” They all shouted simultaneously. They grabbed their weapons and we walked outside, heading to a nearby airship waiting for passengers.

“Hey, Team CFVY’s back!” a guy ran past us shouting. We looked in the direction he had gone and saw two guys and two girls walking in a line, and Team RWBY went to greet them.

“Uh, who are they again?” I asked. 

“They’re a popular second-year team,” Maria answered. “They’ve been gone a week longer than they were supposed to.”

“They don’t look too good,” Rika pointed out. 

“Yeah, let’s just go,” I said. “I don’t like the atmosphere here.”

We walked toward the airship waiting for us, and when we saw the man standing there, my jaw dropped to the floor. He was wearing a black suit with beige trousers and black leather shoes, and also had round glasses and blue hair fading into red at the tips. The most prominent feature of his was the blue wolf ears on his head, and he grinned.

“Dad?” I gasped.

“Well, hello there, Daniel!” he shouted.

“Dad!” I ran up to him and crushed him in a hug. 

He laughed. “Glad to see you, too! We have a lot to catch up on. First…” he let go of me and turned to my teammates, who had walked closer to us. “Who are these beautiful ladies?”

I smirked. “These are my teammates, Ashley Miller and Maria and Rika Naroko, and I’m the leader of Team DAMN.”

“Really? Nice to meet you all.” He extended his hand out to each of them, then pointed to the sisters. “Your last names are Naroko?”

“Yep!” Rika nodded vigorously.

“I was friends with your dad, Harold!” he exclaimed.

Maria was wide-eyed. “You’re Jason Springs?!”

“The one and only!” he winked.

“You’re, like, a legend!” Rika shouted.

“I know! That’s why I was chosen.” Dad smiled. “I’m glad you four are gonna be shadowing me.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “Jax and his team are also here at Beacon right now, and I reunited with John! He also has a team of girls.”

“Oh yeah! I remember him!” Dad laughed. “Your best friend from years ago! And Jax too?”

“Yeah, they’re coming over here now!” Rika pointed to Jax and Team JASN walking over to us. Jax smiled and ran over.

“Hey, Dad!” Jax hugged him. “You’re the huntsman Daniel and his team is shadowing?”

He nodded. “Yeah, they’ll be with me for a week.”

“Yo, Jason!” John extended his hand.

“Ah, Jonathan,” Dad pulled him in for a hug and ruffled his hair. “I see you’ve grown a ton, and you also have three beautiful girls as teammates.”

“Uh-huh, these are Valerie Simmons, and the twins Neon and Nicole Annorose.” They waved at him.

“Such lovely young ladies,” Dad smiled. “I really wish I had more time to talk, but we should get going now. Come on, team, this ride’s gonna be long.”

We followed him on board the airship and took off with a roar, heading for a village on the west border of Vale. This airship seemed much more luxurious than most, with two rooms in the back, each one big enough to fit all four of us. Maria and Rika both walked into one, and Ashley went into the other one, but I stayed behind and took a seat near the window.

* * *

After three hours, we finally touched down near the village and walked a short distance to get there. It was a decent-sized town that had been attacked by Grimm and needed a bit of rebuilding, which was why we were here. As we passed through the gates, I saw a sign that read ‘Welcome to Triterria Village.’ Walking through the village, we saw humans and faunus alike going to and fro with materials like wood, brick, and metal along with some people carrying baskets of fruits and vegetables. Families were walking through the streets with their children and couples were taking a stroll. Overall, it was a pretty lively town for one that had been attacked not too long ago.

“This village is pretty!” Rika exclaimed.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t think anything’s wrong here,” Ashley muttered.

“Well, being negative only makes things worse,” Dad said. “Let’s head to the inn.”

We walked past people who stared at us in awe, probably knowing we were huntsmen-in-training. We entered the inn and were greeted by a tall, sturdily built man with tanned skin wearing a beige leather tunic and matching light brown pants with sandals, and he spoke with a western accent. “Hello, and welcome to Triterria Inn. You must be the huntsmen who accepted our request!”

“Yep, that’s us,” Dad extended his hand to the man. “I’m Jason Springs.”

The man shook his hand. “Ah, yes, the professional huntsman. My name is Tak-Am Unan, I’m the innkeeper and the one who sent the request.” 

“Tak-Am?” I asked.

“It was a combination of my parents’ names,” he answered.

I made an ‘o’ with my mouth. “I see.”

“Now, you folks will be staying here a while, so feel free to make yourselves at home,” he waved his arms around the inn. “We’ve got food, soft beds, and separate bathrooms, too. You can even have your own rooms!”

“We are thankful for your hospitality,” Maria bowed a little.

“Don’t sweat it!” he waved her off. “It’s the least we can do for you!”

We all thanked him and walked up the stairs to one of the rooms. We put the belongings we had taken with us in a closet and Rika threw herself onto the left side of the king-sized mattress there. “Wow, it’s so soft! I could sleep here forever!”

I plopped down onto the other side. “Yeah, no kidding! Wish we had this at Beacon!”

“Alright, we’ve got a week to see how a professional huntsman does his job,” Ashley reminded. “What should we do now?”

Dad leaned against the doorframe. “Well, after a little bit of rest, we could go around looking for the Grimm, so they don’t attack in the first place.”

I sat up. “I’m down. I need action!”

Maria deadpanned. “Didn’t you just fight a spy yesterday?”

Dad laughed. “You fought a spy?”

I made a so-so gesture. “Kinda. Someone snuck into the CCT and Ruby and I tried to stop her. I don’t think we succeeded, but now the Beacon staff is on high alert.”

“That’s my son for ya!” Dad patted me on the back. “Anyway, let’s get some rest, I doubt any of you slept on the airship.”

We all agreed and walked to our separate rooms. The order of our rooms, from closest to the exit, was me, Maria and Rika, who shared a room, Ashley, and Dad. I lay down on my bed and looked at my watch. 10:32 am. I wasn’t that tired, so I formed a six-inch-long rod and spun it around in my fingers. ADHD doesn’t let you sit still for your life. For some reason, though, I started to feel drowsy.  _ But I’m not tired… _ I felt my eyelids shut and I slipped into the world of sleep.

* * *

“ _ Daniel… wake up…” _

_ Ugh, five more minutes… _

_ “We’re gonna leave without you…” _

_ Wait, when did I fall asleep? _

I opened my eyes with much difficulty, sunlight shining down on me. When they adjusted to the light, I saw Ashley and Rika standing over me.

“We’re running late, come on!” Rika cried. 

“You’ve been sleeping for four hours,” Ashley pointed at a clock on the wall, the time was 2:43 pm.

“I… I don’t remember falling asleep,” I said groggily.

“That’s what happens when you’re tired,” Rika giggled.

“But I wasn’t tired when I was in here,” I got up from the bed and followed the girls out of my room.

“Well, we all fell asleep too, but you were knocked out,” Ashley said. “Maria and Jason are waiting downstairs.”

We walked downstairs and saw Maria and Dad at a table, eating some foreign food I’ve never seen before. It was a kebab with several pieces of dark meat on it. Dad pointed his kebab at me. “You should try this, it tastes great!”

“What is it?” I asked, a bit skeptical.

“Tak-Am says it’s called an Almagrin kebab,” Maria answered.

“I want some!” Rika walked over to the counter.

Ashley scrunched her nose. “I think I’ll pass.”

“Yeah, me too,” I waved. “I’m good.”

Dad shrugged. “Suit yourself. This is really good.” 

After Dad, Maria, and Rika finished their kebabs, Dad stood up and gestured forward. “Well, time to head out! Let’s see how good you all are on the field.”

I grinned. “‘Bout time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My story is finally taking shape! I’m introducing the characters that will be important later. I have much planned for this story, I’m so far away from done.


	24. Let the Trials Begin - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be the longest chapter yet, and it's the first chapter in the general view. Hope you enjoy reading it!

**_Outskirts of Triterria Village._ **

**General POV.**

Team DAMN plus Jason was searching through the forest, looking for potential threats. They’d been searching for over five hours now, and so far, they hadn’t found any Grimm. Daniel and Ashley had split up from the group to cover more ground, but they stayed relatively close to the others. To pass the time, they decided to engage in conversation.

“What was your childhood like?” Ashley asked.

Daniel smiled nostalgically. “It was great. My younger sister Jasmine, my older brother Jax, Mom, Dad, and I all lived in the same house until Jax turned eighteen and Dad went to go work overseas. Before that, Dad and Jax, and sometimes Mom, would help train me, since going to Beacon was a lifelong dream of mine. After the… incident with Julia, I had to take painkillers for a while, and I developed a mild addiction to them and an obsession of training harder.”

Ashley winced. “Yikes, I can’t imagine how that must’ve been for you.”

Daniel nodded. “Yep, and I was always pleading for them to go harder on me. After all, you have to expect stronger opponents. After a year had passed since Julia, I had started to change back into my older self, although I was never the same Daniel as before the incident. It wasn’t in a bad way, it’s just my personality changed from then. Sometimes, it feels like I left behind a small part of myself, but then I realize that I was better off without that part.” Daniel scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry, I started rambling and dumped all that on you without warning.”

Ashley shook her head. “It’s okay. Sometimes you just gotta get it all out.”

He smiled. “Thanks for understanding.” Suddenly, they heard a branch snap nearby and instantly crouched down, talking in whispers. “What was that?”

Ashley knit her eyebrows. “A Grimm, maybe?”

“Did you see what kind?” he asked.

She shook her head. “It’s in the trees. Should we call the others?”

“No, we should take a look first, we can handle it.” Daniel formed Vendetta and approached the area where the sound came from. He observed his surroundings but saw nothing threatening, just a few rabbits and squirrels. He looked up and saw the branch that had snapped. It looked more like a stick from its size, so it didn’t look like any Grimm were nearby, and he waved back to her. “False alarm, just some squirrels that were too big for a branch.”

Then, Ashley’s eyes widened as she looked behind Daniel. “Watch out!”

Daniel instinctively ducked as a small boulder flew over his head. It had come from a Geist that had possessed a bunch of rocks, taking the shape of a golem. “Guess it wasn’t a false alarm, after all!”

Ashley whizzed past him in shadow form and attempted to attack its mask, but it swatted her away with a hand made of boulders. She fell back down, plunging Crossfire into the ground to stop herself from sliding. Daniel reformed Vendetta, jumped up at the beast, and punched it in its left arm, destroying it. Ashley took down its legs by throwing a smaller boulder at it. He vaulted over its head and brought his leg, reinforced by crystals, down on its right shoulder. Now that just the head remained, the Geist flew out of the rock, attempting to escape, but Ashley shot it down before it could. 

“You okay?” Daniel asked.

“Peachy,” she responded. “You?”

“Just fine,” he nodded. Just then, an Ursa minor came out from a bush and leaped at us, claws out. Daniel reacted fast and sliced it perpendicularly, making it disappear in a puff of smoke. He ran a hand through my hair and blew out a puff of air. “We should go find the others.”

“How?” she asked.

“I gave them a crystal before we left, and I can locate any crystals I create,” he explained as we started walking towards where my crystal was. “It’s like a sixth sense for me.”

“I have something like that, too,” Ashley admitted. “I can see through the shadows I create. Well, not _see_ , more like _feel._ ”

“That’s pretty neat, for when someone’s trying to ambush you,” Daniel said. “That could be used in many situations.” He looked ahead and saw the rest of his team killing off a few Beowolves. Jason turned to him and smiled. “You’re alive! How’d it go?”

“We killed a Geist and an Ursa Minor,” Ashley said. “Other than that, uneventful.”

“That’s pretty eventful if you ask me!” Rika laughed. “I guess we should head back now since it seems there aren’t many Grimm here. It kinda makes me wonder why we’re even here!”

“It does seem strange,” Maria agreed. “No one else accepted this mission either.”

“Eh, you might just be overthinking things,” Jason said. “Let’s hurry back, I think that kebab really did a number on my stomach.”

They walked back to Triterria Village, but when they arrived, it didn’t seem as lively as it had before. Not many people were outside, and the few that were just looked at them with blank expressions. They passed by everyone, heading for the Triterria inn, but Tak-Am was standing in front of the inn, arms crossed. Behind him, the doors opened, and Team RAJR stepped out, standing in front of him.

Jason knit his eyebrows. “What’s going on here?”

Tak-Am laughed. “Y’know, there’s a reason why no one chose this mission. The mission board was hacked as well when the CCT was infiltrated. It was specifically for the one whom the students were shadowing.” He looked directly at him. “You.”

He scowled. “Why’s that?”

Tak-Am ran a hand through his buzzcut hair. “Surely you know the reason, Jason. You don’t remember me? The name’s Clifford Rosemary, I was your upperclassman in Beacon.”

Jason’s eyes widened. “Impossible. You’re supposed to be in prison!”

“Well, someone had to take care of my girls,” he said like it was obvious. “I escaped over a year ago, then I built this village from the ground up with the help of a few fellow criminals. Oh, and by the way, that kebab you had earlier, it was a sedative that will incapacitate you. It should take effect in a few minutes.”

“I knew there was something wrong with it!” Daniel shouted. “And you four always did have a bad vibe!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jason continued. He also discreetly passed Daniel his scroll from behind his back, the screen already on text messages, one of which read ‘Call for help.’ He quietly did as it read, calling the huntsman that Team JASN was shadowing. He remembered that they had chosen a mission not far away from ours, and he sent a short text while Jason was still talking. _‘Help. Cornered in Triterria, Dad, Maria, and Rika drugged.’_ He slid the scroll back in his pocket like it never happened.

“So what is it that you want?” he asked.

“Simple,” Clifford retorted. “I want to watch your kind burn slowly.”

At that, Team RAJR shot forward at them, weapons raised. Audrey sped toward Daniel with her semblance, scimitars spinning around her. He ducked out of the way, activating his semblance—turning his hair blue— and forming Trusty Blaster to keep her at a range. Maria and Rika were fighting Julia and Sarah, narrowly dodging her chain whip every time, and countering Julia’s hand blades. Jason and Ashley were up against Samantha and Clifford, Jason using his twin maces in conjunction with Ashley’s quick parries. Daniel backflipped away from Audrey when she dashed at him, holding her scimitars backward so they functioned like sickles. He formed and threw shurikens in rapid succession, but she dodged and deflected them. They fell onto the ground harmlessly, and then Daniel had a plan. He left them there and kept throwing them, stopping at thirty on the floor in a spotted pattern. He stood in the middle and let Audrey dash to him. At the last second, he jumped away and threw a powerful lightning bolt at the scattered shurikens. As soon as it touched the first one it sparked a chain reaction, electrifying each shuriken on the ground. He then threw one more shuriken at Audrey and all of the tendrils latched onto it, electrocuting Audrey in the middle and making her scream in pain. She stopped moving, the lightning having paralyzed her. Clifford saw what happened and roundhouse-kicked Jason in the face, dashing toward Daniel at the same speed as Audrey would have. Daniel rolled out of the way just in time with Trusty Blaster and reformed it into two machine pistols. He fired away at Clifford, but the shots didn’t affect him. 

“Don’t let him touch you!” Jason shouted at Daniel. “Keep him as far away from you as… as possible...”

As he said that, he suddenly stopped moving, along with Maria and Rika. Daniel and Ashley watched in panic as they fell to the ground. 

“What’s going on?!” Ashley cried.

“It seems the drugs finally kicked in,” Clifford laughed. “They’ll be like that for a while. Don’t worry, they’re not dead, but they’re not gonna be helping you anytime soon.”

Daniel growled. “You bastard!”

At that moment, an airship roared above us, Team JASN jumping out of it. Nicole, Valerie, and Neon next to Daniel’s seizing team, and John right in front of Clifford with an explosion that knocked him and a paralyzed Audrey back. John walked over to Daniel and grinned. “Anyone order one Hot Boy Hawkin?”

Daniel smirked. “Just in time.”

Neon and Valerie grabbed Maria and Rika by the arms and dragged them behind a counter in the inn. Nicole stood by Jason and unfolded Big Bang, changing it into the assault rifle form and holding off Julia and Sarah. She then changed it back into sniper form and fired at Cliff. The shot could be heard from at least half a mile away, heading straight for Cliff. He didn’t react fast enough, having just gotten up from John’s explosion, and so he took the shot square in the chest. He stumbled backward and Daniel leaped at him from above, striking him in the right shoulder with Vendetta and making him fall again. As he fell, though, he kicked Daniel in the stomach, sending him into a tree branch. Cliff stood up again and put his hand on Samantha’s shoulder. 

“What is he doing?” John asked.

He smirked. “Using my semblance.”

As he said that, he let go of Samantha, who held her hand out to the side, and sparkles started to emanate from it. Then, a sword shaped like her sabre materialized inside her hand, and it was made out of the same pink and lavender crystals as Daniel’s semblance. She charged it up with orangish-yellow lightning and held it at the ready.

“She has your semblance!” John cried.

Daniel’s jaw went slack. “That’s impossible!”

Cliff laughed. “I call my semblance Copy and Paste. I can copy the semblance of whoever I touch, and I instantly gain knowledge of how to use it. I can transfer it to someone else, and they gain the same knowledge as well. I can only copy one semblance, and if I transfer it to someone, I won’t have it anymore. Had to wait for the right moment to strike to make this semblance count.” He leaned down to Samantha. “It only lasts for twenty minutes, so make the most of it.” 

Samantha had a feral grin. “Gladly!”

She charged towards Daniel and attempted to strike him, but John raised his hand and blew up the area in front of them, forcing her to dodge. Suddenly, Audrey came out of nowhere and kicked John in the head, sending him into the trunk of another tree. _Damn, the paralysis must’ve worn off!_ Daniel thought. He charged his fists with lightning and shot it at Audrey, getting a direct hit, but Samantha smacked Daniel’s ribs with her crystal sabre. John propelled himself towards the two and smacked them both with Wildfire, shooting Audrey twice with Blizzard. Daniel got back up and reformed Vendetta with a wider, longer blade. He spun around with the blade, keeping the girls at a distance, and with the gained momentum, he slammed it into the ground, creating an electric shockwave that blasted the girls. Samantha got back up quicker than Audrey, and electricity was crackling around her. “Is that all you got?”

Meanwhile, Valerie was using her Ice Dust to make sure Cliff wasn’t getting up anytime soon. Ashley and Nicole were holding off Sarah and Julia, while Neon was protecting Jason, Maria, and Rika. Rika was the first one to start waking up.

“Ugh… what happened?” she asked, dazed. 

Neon sat her up against the wall. “Daniel said you were drugged by that Cliff guy.”

Rika was instantly alert. “Where is he?!”

Neon calmed her down. “Valerie’s trapping him in Ice Dust. She managed to get a good hit on him to knock him out. But he copied Daniel’s Semblance and gave it to Samantha.”

“Dammit, I told him to be careful,” Jason had woken up without them knowing. 

“Are you guys okay now?” Neon asked. 

“Yeah, that drug only put us to sleep, nothing more.” Jason rolled his head around, working out a kink in his neck. “Maria should be waking up right about… now.”

Maria jolted awake, looking around. “Where are we?”

“Once again, I was hiding you from the Rosemaries and Julia,” Neon explained.

“Alright, we should be good to fight now,” Jason said.

“Wait,” Rika said. “I can quickly make us some tea to make us feel better. Maria, hand me some Ice and Fire Dust.”

Maria did as told and Rika melted the Ice Dust to make water, heated it with the remaining Fire Dust, and used her semblance to grow some herbs to put into the tea. They all drank the tea and felt energized again. 

“Alright, let’s head out,” Maria said. They nodded and got up. As they did, though, they heard a strange sound, and when they looked at the back entrance, Julia was standing next to a portal, and Dakota, Joe, and Cole stepped out of it. 

“Oh, look!” Cole said. “It’s Jason Springs!”

“Oh, this is gonna be fun!” Dakota exclaimed.

* * *

Daniel and John had been fighting Audrey while Samantha switched to fighting Ashley when they heard a crash come from the inn. Neon had crashed into the wall as if she had been thrown. Nicole watched in shock. “Neon!”

Dakota, Joe, Cole, and Julia had run out of the hole in the wall, Jason and Daniel’s team trailing behind them. Dakota glanced at Daniel. “Oh, look, It’s Daniel _again!_ ”

Daniel growled. “Of _fucking course_ you all are here as well!”

“Took ya long enough,” Audrey smirked. 

“Wouldn’t miss this!” Joe yelled.

Jason looked at Daniel. “I told you to be careful!”

“He got me by surprise!” Daniel shouted. His ears twitched, and he instinctively ducked, narrowly dodging Samantha’s crystal sabre. 

“Nice semblance, Samantha!” Cole shouted.

“Thanks, I just got it,” She still had that feral grin.

Electricity crackled around Daniel. “Alright, _now_ I’m pissed.” He raised his hands and swung them downwards, several lightning bolts coming from the sky to strike the nearest targets, which happened to be Audrey and Sarah. They were blown backward into a tree, and the centrifugal force had tied them both up in the tree.

“Right, let’s not get distracted, guys,” Samantha mock-reminded. “We can gloat about this after we beat them.”

“Like hell, you will!” John shot his hands out at Team JJC and Julia, exploding the ground beneath them. They fell through a portal Dakota had created and jumped out behind them, Dakota shooting John and Daniel in their backs. Rika threw seeds at the ground and grew vines to chain Cole down, while Ashley turned into a shadow and reappeared right top of Joe, jumping off him and firing bullets in the back of his head. Maria charged at Julia with The Vindicator, using the heavy blade to counter her fast movements by spinning around fast and throwing Fire Dust around. She jumped out of the Dust cloud as John exploded the Fire Dust, causing a chain reaction and making an enormous explosion that no doubt took off an enormous portion of her Aura. Nicole shot Audrey and Sarah out of the tree with her sniper and changed it to its assault rifle form to fire rapidly at them while Valerie kept them busy with The Revealer. Rika ran up to Cole and swung Mother Nature at his balls, making him shriek like a little girl. Audrey sped around John, attacking him at every opening. Julia was attacking Maria and John again, only barely dodging Maria’s swings and John’s bullets, having taken damage from their heavy attacks. Jason was helping Nicole with Sarah and Dakota with his twin maces, and Daniel was holding off Samantha, as she was the one who could turn the tables against them. She shot lightning at Daniel, sending him flying into John as Vendetta flew into the ice that was keeping Cliff down, shattering it. Julia took that opportunity to use her semblance to discombobulate Maria and kick her in the stomach. Nicole had to reload again, but she dropped her magazine and received a high-speed kick from Audrey. Valerie tried shooting out Dust again, but all the Fire and Ice vials were empty. She moved to the defensive against Audrey and Dakota, but he used his portals to sneak behind her and leg-sweep her, making her fall into his knee. Daniel got off of John and watched as Samantha grinned and ran towards Ashley, who was still busy fighting Joe until he jumped away. Ashley didn’t realize what was happening until she felt pain in her back; Samantha had slashed her back, and her sword had shattered, her time with Daniel’s semblance up.

Everything seemed to have stopped for Daniel, as the gravity of the situation slowly dawned on him. He saw Samantha next to Ashley, he saw Ashley with a large diagonal cut across her normally green dress shirt, which was slowly being soaked with blood. He saw Dakota’s pleasantly surprised face as he watched. And lastly, he saw his team’s terrified expressions as Ashley started falling to her knees. Slowly, the air within thirty meters of him began to shift, and thunder was heard overhead. 

Jason walked to Daniel slowly. “Daniel, _calm down._ ”

_Here we are,_ the voice in his head said. _Let your trials begin._

The color of the lightning began to change slowly, from sky blue to crimson red. His hair, from the top down, was also changing color. And his eyes turned black with the same red pupils. 

“Oh, no,” Jason whispered, now backing away. The girls, Jason, and John ran into the inn and Valerie carried Ashley carefully to follow them. They crouched behind a window and watched.

Daniel formed a red lightning saber, with more lightning forming crossguards at the hilt. He looked directly at Samantha and talked in two voices at the same time; one was his, one wasn’t. “ _You shouldn’t have done that._ ”

He raised the lightning saber and plunged it into the ground, screaming in a very loud death growl for at least a minute. As he did, an enormous lightning bolt struck him, and exploded in a mega-shockwave, emitting a continuous pulse that electrocuted everyone within a thirty-meter radius. He stopped screaming and took the lightning saber out of the ground. He spun the saber and got into a fighting stance as everyone got back up.

“ _Daniel isn’t here right now,_ ” he said.

Cole looked worried. “Then who are you?”

  
“ _I… am the Goliath!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a couple of things to say in this note, so listen up.  
> First, thank you all for over 600 hits! We’re close to 1000!  
> Second, you may think Daniel is overpowered, but how bout that Copy and Paste semblance?  
> Third, how many of you coulda guessed that Team RAJR and JJC were evil?  
> Fourth, yes, I did make Kylo Ren's lightsaber. Sue me.  
> Lastly, if you don’t know what a death growl is, listen to this: https://youtu.be/6NTDJSI3uyM?t=156  
> Thank you all for reading, and I’ll see you next week!


	25. Let the Trials Begin - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****I M P O R T A N T****
> 
> There was an update today because I fixed a mistake I made in the last five paragraphs of Daniel and Goliath's dialogue, as there was a crucial piece of information missing. I recommend you read it, I only changed a few words.
> 
> I kinda recommend you listen to Goliath’s Throne by IRIS (Dagames) while reading this chapter. Not necessary, just recommended. Big fan of him and his music.

**_Triterria Village, just outside the local inn._ **

**General POV.**

“ _I… am the Goliath!_ ” he roared in a death growl. 

Red lightning bolts came down from the sky again and connected to him as he formed crystal gauntlets that covered him from his elbows to his hands, and he channeled the lightning to strike all seven of them, separate bolts for each one of them. The force of the impact blasted them several meters backward, but he didn’t give them a chance to get up. The first one he went for was Samantha, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and slamming her into the trunk of the tree she had hit, destroying it. Almost immediately after that, he backflipped as Dakota lunged under him, dodging the attack before it even happened. Mid-flip, he swung his leg downwards and kicked Dakota’s head into the ground. Joe was there to meet him when he landed, but Goliath swung his lightning saber behind him as soon as his feet touched the ground, spinning around to face him and clashing blades five times before swiftly forming Trusty Blaster and shooting Joe twice in his stomach without missing a beat. He spun around again and blocked Cole’s spear thrust with a heavy swing of his own, but Cole hit him in the temple with the butt end of the spear immediately, causing Goliath to fall halfway to the ground, but he put his hands on the ground and used the momentum to kick Cole in the face before standing upright again. Julia quickly ran up to him and slashed at his gauntlets six times as he blocked, and went for a seventh, but Goliath ducked, spun around, and punched her in the face with his gauntlets. Audrey sped to him with her scimitars raised, but he threw the lightning saber at her instantly. She dodged, but he shot electricity at the saber and traveled through it, landing directly behind Audrey, grabbing the saber, and slamming it into her back. His wolf ears, which were a lighter red than his hair, twitched as he turned around and caught Sarah’s chain whip with his saber as he sent a current of electricity back to her. Samantha had come back and jumped at him, but he dodged and elbowed her side as Dakota opened up a portal behind him, making Samantha crash into Dakota and go through the portal again. Julia tried again to ambush him, but he swung the saber right through her, the lightning paralyzing her. He then kicked her away as she couldn’t block it and turned his attention back to Audrey. She used her semblance to attack him rapidly, but he matched her speed and even countered with his own attacks. He jumped up and hit her shoulder, making her stumble backward, then kicked her midair into Sarah, who had just got up. At some point, Clifford had regained consciousness, but Goliath either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared. At least, not until Clifford barreled into him. 

“You’re outnumbered, eight to one!” he shouted. 

Goliath grinned maniacally. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve only been toying with you all, I can end this in mere minutes.”

Clifford formed a crystal sword of his own, having copied Goliath’s semblance when he barreled into him. “We’ll see about that!”

“Mmh, we shall!” Goliath raised his saber and charged at him.

* * *

**_Inside Daniel’s head…_ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

_“Ugh, my head hurts…” I said aloud, the words echoing around me. I looked around and saw empty blackness._ “ _Where am I?”_

_“In your head,” I heard a voice that sounded like it was speaking from movie theater speakers all around me._

_“You again?” I asked. “What did you do to me?!”_

_“_ I _didn’t do anything,” the voice said. “_ You _brought me out. All that anger from seeing your teammate get hurt let me out. I’ve taken control of your body, and I’m fighting the ones you hate so much.”_

_I growled. “Why am I here?!”_

_“Because your trials have begun,” he said. “In order to take back your body, you must defeat me in combat.”_

_I formed Vendetta. “Alright, come out then!”_

_“I’m already here.”_

_A figure shimmered into existence a few meters in front of me. He looked just like me, only with red hair and black eyes with red pupils. He held a red lightning saber with lightning crossguards sticking out of the sides of the hilt, right under the point where the saber goes out. He spun it in his hand around his back, threw up in the air, and caught it. “Your trials begin now.”_

_He threw the saber at me, and I stepped to the side to dodge it, but he shot electricity at the saber, traveled through it, and appeared behind me. Knowing the move he made, I thrust Vendetta behind me and blocked his strike._

_“Impressive,” he said. “You only did this attack once, and you’ve already found a way to counter it. But you can’t do it as well as I can!”_

_He threw lightning upward, and cut it short where it stopped a few meters directly above me. He traveled through the lightning and blasted himself down, aiming for where I was standing. I reacted quickly and threw myself backward, catching myself in a back handspring and landing in a crouch. I formed an AK-47 and fired rapidly at him, but he deflected all the bullets almost effortlessly. When the rifle was empty, I threw it at him. Not expecting this, he swatted it to the side just in time, but I had dashed behind him and gave him a kick to the back of the head. He fell to the ground, and I formed a SPAS-12 type shotgun and blasted him in the head, the full force of all the pellets hitting his head again. I pressed the shotgun to his back, between his shoulder blades, and shot again. A pained ‘ack!’ slipped out of his mouth, and I kept the shotgun where it was and formed Vendetta in my other hand. Just as I brought down the sword, however, Goliath traveled through a lightning bolt he had managed to shoot out and reappeared a few steps ahead of me._

_“You’re much smarter than you look,” he said. “But you’re still missing the point of this trial, and that’s why you won’t win.”_

_I scowled. “And what’s the point of this so-called ‘trial’?”_

_He chuckled. “Where’s the fun in telling you? Our battle isn’t over yet!”_

_He ran towards me, saber raised, and I formed a blue lightning saber of my own, ready to attack._

* * *

**_Triterria Village._ **

**General POV**

Jason watched as Daniel—no, Goliath—fought Clifford and Teams RAJR and JJC without breaking much of a sweat. He looked at Ashley, who Rika was trying to heal. She had cleaned the nasty-looking cut on Ashley’s back and grown an aloe vera cactus to soak a bandage with its gel. Maria had taken off Ashley’s shirt so she could apply the bandage to the cut, and Ashley winced as it made contact with her skin. John, Valerie, and Nicole were watching Daniel’s fight as well, and John and Nicole were getting a bit frustrated. 

“Isn’t there anything we can do?!” he shouted.

“Not at this point, not really,” Jason said.

“What’s going on out there, anyway?” Maria asked. “Why’d he suddenly turn red?:”

Jason scowled. “Has he told you all about the incident with Julia?” They all nodded. “Well, something else happened before that. There’s something inside his mind, like another person. We think it’s a manifestation of his power.”

“Is that even possible?” Rika asked.

He shook his head. “We don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s triggered whenever he’s absolutely furious. Have any of you noticed any changes in his behavior recently?”

Ashley spoke up. “Well... after the dance at Beacon, I overheard him talking to himself, and getting angry and offended at something he heard. Would that have anything to do with it?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it,” Jason said. “That inner voice can read his thoughts, and vice versa. That’s how they must converse.”

John tapped his foot on the ground nervously and looked at Nicole. “Can’t you use your semblance to see what’s happening?”

“I can’t read his mind from here!” she cried. “I need to be closer to see what’s going on inside his head!”

“That’s not a very good idea,” Jason said. “You could get hurt in the crossfire.”

“I don’t need to be right next to him,” she said. “I just need to be within twenty feet of him!” She looked at a tree he was next to. “If I can get up there, I’ll be able to use my semblance to read his mind.”

“I could go with her,” Valerie offered. “To make sure nothing happens to her.”

“I don’t need your--”

“Okay,” Jason agreed. “Try to see what’s going on in his head.”

Nicole mumbled something under her breath and dragged Valerie with her outside. They snuck past the battle and jumped on top of the tree next to Daniel.

“Can you read his mind from here?” Valerie asked.

“I’ll try,” Nicole shrugged. She closed her eyes and concentrated, finding Daniel’s presence, and looked inside his thoughts.

* * *

**Daniel’s POV.**

_Goliath and I had been clashing blades and trading blows for almost fifteen minutes now, and it seemed he was beating me._

_“You still don’t get it, do you?” he asked. “There’s only one way you can get out of here.”_

_“What is it?!” I growled._

_“You have to accept that I’m a part of you, your anger, and make my power your own,” he said._

_“If I do that, I will have become the enemy!” I shouted. “Your power is making me more furious than I’ve ever been in my life, and I hate it!”_

_He stopped smiling. “You think_ I’m _the one making you rage as much as you currently are?”_

_“Yes!” I screamed. “If it weren’t for you, I’d still be out there, trying to get revenge on Team RAJR, and Dakota and his friends, and then they would--”_

_“--Probably be dead,” Goliath interrupted._

_I looked him dead in the eye. “...What?”_

_He facepalmed. “If it weren’t for me occupying you here, all of them might be dead right now. This anger isn’t mine, it’s yours. The angrier you get, the stronger and uncontrollable I get. Because I’m keeping you here, you’re focusing on me instead of them. The whole point of this trial is for you to learn to control your emotions. If you don’t, you will end up doing more harm than good, you might even end up hurting those you care about.” I was at a loss for words, so he continued. “Let me show you what happened, about nine years ago, and after you first got your semblance.”_

_He touched my forehead, and I saw a flash of white before it faded into a view of a kindergarten building. The scene changed into a view of the playground area, where younger versions of the Rosemary’s, and Dakota and his friends were bullying younger me and a few other faunus children._

_“Leave us alone!” one of the faunus children shouted. “We didn’t do anything to you!”_

_“You’re existing,” Samantha said. “That’s enough of a problem for us.”_

_“Go away,” younger me said. “You’re making the other kids cry.”_

_“So?” Sarah asked._

_“That’s not nice,” younger me crossed my arms. “I’m gonna call the teachers.”_

_“Oh, no!” Dakota cried in a mocking voice. “I’m so scared! We’re gonna get in trouble, guys!”_

_They all just laughed, and Samantha slapped younger me across the face, causing him to fall. “We’re not scared of you.”_

_Red lightning started crackling around younger me, and he got up and punched Dakota and Samantha at the same time in the stomach._

_“Sam!” Sarah cried._

_“Dakota!” Joe shouted._

_They ran over to where they had been thrown, and they carried them out of the playground area. The other children started clapping, and one of them even tried to hug younger me, but he pushed them away, and they fell on their butt. Younger me realized what had happened too late as his hair changed back to the normal dirt-brown, and the kid started crying. The others backed away from him, and he ran out of the school._

_Suddenly, there was a flash of white, and I was back with Goliath. He was staring at me with a serious face. “This is what happens when your power gets out of control. And now that you’ve gotten so much stronger than before, you could do more than just push them on the ground.” He stepped back. “I am not the one at fault. As I said, the angrier you get, the less control you have over your power. And if you lose complete control, like you would have if I hadn’t stepped in, you could have killed them. Sure, they are your enemies, but who says they have to die? Before you can accept I am a part of you, you must first control your emotions. If you cannot control them, you cannot control your power.”_

_I closed my eyes and pondered what he said, coming to a decision. “I understand. I will learn to control my emotions.”_

_Goliath smiled. “Good. Now, you can regain control over your body, and when you do, you will have the power I was using to fight them off briefly, but it will wear off when you're done. You will also gain knowledge of how to travel through lightning as I do. For now, that is all you will gain. I'm giving you a taste of the power you can unlock, so you know what you want to work towards.”_

_I nodded. “Got it.”_

_Goliath raised a fist. “Now go!”_

_He punched me, and in a flash, I returned to the real world._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a fun and hard chapter to write. Semblances in this story can be evolved into a stronger version of themselves, this is Daniel’s version of it, only it happened very early and he didn’t even realize it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and stay safe!


	26. Let the Trials Begin - Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to get back into the story! I’m not at all sorry about the cliffhanger last time!

**_Triterria Village, about seven minutes before Daniel regained control._ **

**General POV.**

Valerie had carried Nicole on her back and jumped on top of the branch above Daniel, where Nicole had used her semblance to link her’s, Daniel’s, and Valerie’s minds, so Valerie could also see what was going on in his head. It was a weird sight, as they could see not only what was going on, but they could also see inside Daniel’s mind. Closing their eyes made it better, but it was still a strange experience to see someone else’s thoughts.

_“I didn’t know you could do this,”_ Valerie said, or rather, thought.

_“Yeah, it’s sorta like a telepathy radio channel,”_ Nicole responded. _“I made sure he can’t hear us right now, but we can hear each other. Now let’s see what’s going on.”_

They looked for Daniel in the dark abyss that was his current state of mind. They heard voices and followed them back to what seemed like two versions of Daniel talking to each other.

_“What the hell?”_ Nicole watched in confusion. _“There’s two of them?”_

_“I don’t think that’s himself,”_ Valerie pointed at the color difference.

_“But then who is it?”_ Nicole asked _._

_“I don’t know,”_ Valerie said. _“But let’s stay quiet for now.”_

They watched as Daniel seemed to be losing, and the red version of him spoke up.

_“You still don’t get it, do you?”_ he asked. _“There’s only one way you can get out of here.”_

_“What is it?!”_ Daniel growled.

_“You have to accept that I’m a part of you, your anger, and make my power your own,”_ Red Daniel said.

_“If I do that, I will have become the enemy!”_ Normal Daniel shouted. _“Your power is making me more furious than I’ve ever been in my life, and I hate it!”_

_“This isn’t good,”_ Nicole groaned, opening her eyes to see the ongoing battle in the real world. _“If it’s some sort of evil spirit possessing him or something, how will we fix it?”_

_“I think that’s just something Daniel will have to do alone,”_ Valerie said. _“Even if we could intervene, we’d have to get everyone else to do it. I mean, that guy’s currently fighting two battles, with the strongest people we know, and_ winning. _I think we should--”_

They were interrupted by a bright flash of white, blinding them. When they opened their eyes, they were looking at younger versions of Daniel and his enemies. Nicole pulled them both out of Daniel’s mind, much to Valerie’s chagrin. “Why’d you do that?”

“We shouldn’t intrude on his thoughts,” Nicole shook her head. “As you said, we’ll leave this to him. Let’s get back to the inn.”

Valerie sighed. “Fine. Hop on.”

Nicole climbed on Valerie’s back and they snuck back into the inn, narrowly dodging a stray lightning bolt, where they reported what they saw to Jason and the others.

  
  


“It’s like he’s literally fighting his inner demon,” Valerie said. “And he actually possessed him.”

“Why’d you come back?” John asked.

“The demon—named Goliath, as you all heard—gave him a flashback,” she responded, looking pointedly at Nicole. “And _someone_ said she didn’t want to intrude on his personal memories.” 

Nicole blushed. “Oh, excu-u-use me for wanting to give him personal space!”

“What did Goliath look like?” Ashley asked, having been healed enough to sit up straight.

“Well, it looked like what you’re seeing right now,” Valerie started. “Red hair and irises and black scleras.”

“Scleras?” Rika asked.

“The whites of his eyes,” Maria explained from behind her. She made an ‘o’ shape with her mouth.

“I wonder where he gets the red eyes from…” Neon wondered aloud. 

“Uh, guys?” John pointed out the window. “You might wanna see this.”

Everyone looked outside and saw Daniel start coming to his senses.

* * *

**_Present time._ **

After Goliath had punched Daniel, a burst of electricity made Teams RAJR, JJC, and Clifford stumble backward, pausing their fight momentarily. They were all confused, until Daniel opened his eyes, revealing the normal whites and red pupils. His hair was still red, but he had regained control. He flicked a strand of hair, sparks flying out of it. He gazed at his right hand, where he held the red lightning saber. He spun it around in his hand a few times and smirked.

“I’m ba~ack.”

Samantha was the first to react and shot toward him with her saber. As they clashed blades, Daniel noticed that he was faster compared to before.

_That’s just one of the benefits of this power,_ Goliath said in his thoughts. _Form some rods to plant in the ground in several places, but make sure you stay near the inn._

Daniel nodded, walking backward and forming twenty small crystal pikes, then he threw them into the air so that they fell in different places, sticking out of the ground like markers. 

_Good,_ Goliath said. _These will be conductors for the lightning._

_What lightning?_ Daniel wondered.

_The lightning you’ll travel through._

Daniel mentally shrugged and continued battling Samantha, along with Audrey and Sarah, who had also come to their senses. Dakota was standing at the ready in case they needed an escape, with Julia ready to discombobulate Daniel, while Joe and Cole joined in on the battle. They stopped at a position where they were inside the field of crystal pikes.

_I have a plan,_ Goliath said. _The way you make full use of lightning travel is by always being prepared to strike when you resurface. So what you have to do is shoot lightning at each of the pikes and travel through the electricity, and get ready to attack in the short moment of travel. You’re gonna do that repeatedly, like a chain reaction. You can also use them to dodge attacks, but always be aware of the crystals’ surroundings. Got it?_

_Yeah, I can manage,_ he thought back.

“It seems you’ve lost that crazed look in your eyes,” Samantha pointed out.

“Yeah,” Daniel responded. “Now I can be the one to kick your asses.”

“Whatever plan you have, it won’t work,” Clifford said while pulling out a longsword.

“Well, I haven’t tried anything yet,” Daniel smirked. “So don’t get too cocky.”

“The only one being cocky here is you,” Samantha scoffed. “And all because you got red hair.”

“You sure about that?” he asked. Because this whole time I’ve been holding the eight of you off, by myself, without much damage.

She growled and charged at him, sword raised, but he sidestepped and attempted to strike her shoulder. She spun around, whacking his saber out of his hand, and yelled “Cole! Now!” 

Cole used his semblance, Invisible Barrier, to trap Daniel where he was standing. He couldn’t move, it was like something was wrapped around him, freezing him in his tracks, but only in certain places, like the arms, legs, chest, and head, so he could struggle, but not break free. This also meant that Dakota could shoot him with his pistols, as he was doing right now. Daniel’s Aura was taking slight damage from the shots when Goliath spoke up. _Travel to the pike on Dakota’s left. You don’t need your whole arm to shoot lightning, just a finger will do._

Daniel nodded internally and pointed his index finger at the pike to the left of Dakota. A bolt of lightning shot from his finger and struck the pike, and he traveled through the lightning, appearing slightly behind Dakota, and roundhouse-kicked him in the head. Suddenly, Joe came out of nowhere and swung his katana at him, hitting him in the shoulder. Then, another Joe leaped in front of him and punched him in the stomach. And another came from above and smacked his head with an elbow. Daniel shot another bolt of electricity at a pike next to Cole and hit him upside the head when he popped up. _I gotta watch out for Joe’s clone semblance,_ he thought. _If I remember correctly, his clones can’t withstand too much damage. My best bet is to use the pikes as conductors for an empowered energy blast._ He charged up a large amount of electricity and released it in a wave on the ground, striking the pikes to charge it even further. Team RAJR and JJC were all within the field of pikes, so they got electrocuted by the continuous pulse of lightning on the ground.

_Daniel!_ He heard Nicole shout in his thoughts.

_Nicole? What are you doing here?_ he asked.

_While you’ve been distracting them, Jason called in an airship that can get us out of here!_ she exclaimed. _You just have to hold them off for a few more minutes!_

_Pft,_ he scoffed. _What do you think we’ve been doing?_

_We?_ Nicole questioned his choice of words.

_Long story, I’ll get back to you._

He formed a SPAS-12 shotgun and fired a few rounds at his still-downed opponents, keeping them at bay. Dakota created a portal under him and above Daniel, so when he fell through, he fell on top of him. He put Daniel in a chokehold and Sarah whipped him with her chain. Audrey dashed to him and repeatedly struck him with her scimitars. Julia stared into his eyes, and his vision started to swim and spin. 

_I can’t… focus…_ Daniel thought.

_That’s fine, because the airship’s already here,_ Goliath said.

_Hold on, Daniel!_ Nicole shouted. _The airship’s here now!_

True to her word, he heard the familiar roar of an engine above him. It distracted everyone, including Julia, so the effects of her semblance wore off. Daniel took that chance to emit a pulse of electricity in a wave and blast them away from him. He formed his Trusty blasters and propelled himself toward the hold in the inn’s wall, where his dad and the rest of his friends were hiding behind a counter.

“Glad to see you’ve beaten your demons,” John grinned. “But it’s time to go now.”

Daniel nodded and glanced at Ashley, who was healed enough to walk by herself. “Glad to see you’re okay.”

She chuckled. “Same here. Now let’s go.”

They all ran out of the inn and over to where the airship had landed. Clifford and Teams RAJR and JJC tried to stop them, but Dakota was the only one with ranged weapons and they were too far. They boarded the airship safely and took off toward Vale.

“Why didn’t you two use your semblances earlier?” Samantha yelled at Joe and Cole.

“Well, we were waiting for your mark,” Cole said.

“Why do you need me to tell you when to use your semblances?!” she shrieked.

They shifted nervously, ashamed of their absentmindedness. 

* * *

As they flew back home, Ashley walked over to where Daniel was sitting and scooched next to him, leaning over and giving him a side hug, burying her face in his shoulder. 

“U-uh, what’s this about?” he asked.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled into his shoulder.

“You didn’t do anything,” he pointed out.

“I wasn’t careful and ended up getting hurt,” she said. “Which caused something bad to happen to you. Nicole told us that the Goliath guy had possessed you, all because you got angry over me getting hurt.”

Daniel shook his head. “That was kinda my fault, too. He told me that because I wasn’t in control of my emotions, he had to take over my body.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because if I had continued in my rage-fueled frenzy, they would have been killed by me,” he admitted. “He was basically holding me back from doing devastating damage to them.”

She nodded. “I see. I still should have been more careful, though.”

Daniel shrugged. “Well, at least I got something good out of it.”

Ashley’s ears perked up. “What’s that?”  
  


Daniel lifted his hand, and red lightning sparked between his fingers. “I got a new ability to train.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was late, it took me a while to write this. I’ve finally written one of the most important parts of this story. Next time, we find out what happens at the end of this mission. See you next week!


	27. Explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve seen the gameplay trailer for Bendy and the Dark Revival, Goliath sounds like Bendy’s voice in the beginning.

**_Beacon Academy._**

**Daniel’s POV; third person.**

After the whole fiasco at Triterria Village, Jason reported the behavior of Teams RAJR and JJCN to Ozpin. Team RAJR, due to seriously injuring another student, was not allowed to participate in the Vytal Festival Tournament, and given a month of detention and cleaning duty, while Team JJCN—minus Nick—was given two weeks of detention. Meanwhile, Team RWBY had managed to blow up the middle of Vale during their mission, and Teams JNPR and CFVY, along with half of Team SSSN went over to help. They also managed to apprehend Roman Torchwick, which Daniel found pretty cool.

The Vytal Festival Tournament was in two days, and Ashley had healed up pretty quickly with the help of Rika, and the next day, they were back in their dorm room with John, Valerie, the twins, Rika, and Daniel sitting in a circle as he explained what had happened with Goliath, while Maria was sitting on her bed, looking at herself in the mirror and fixing her hair into a braided bun, and Ashley was reading a book on her own bed.

“So, there’s some kind of demon thing in your head, and he possessed you because you got too angry?” Rika concluded.

“In a basic summary, yes,” Daniel confirmed.

“So he can take over your body whenever he wants?” John asked.

“No, he told me it takes an immense amount of mental strength to just suddenly control me,” he said. “But he can easily take control if I let him.”

“Does he talk inside your head?” Neon asked.

“Yeah, but your sister and teammate already know that, don’t they?” Daniel tried to glare at Nicole and Valerie, but he couldn’t hide his smirk.

“You knew we were inside your head?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It’s not exactly the most subtle thing, but it’s pretty subtle. It’s almost like I felt it. But I didn’t hear either of you, so I almost didn’t notice.”

“Can we talk to him?” Rika requested.

_I don’t see why not,_ Goliath said. _Might as well entertain their curiosity. Nicole, link everyone’s minds._

Daniel glanced at Nicole, who blushed at being caught. _I told you, you’re not exactly subtle._

She concentrated her semblance on both teams, and a different voice spoke in their heads. _Well, here I am._ Everyone, even Maria and Ashley, jumped at the sudden voice and the smile could be heard in his voice as his image appeared in everyone’s mind. _Any questions?_

“Geez, how about warning next time?!” John shouted.

Goliath chuckled. _Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Let’s close our eyes, so we can dive into our thoughts, and so you all can see me clearly._

Everyone closed their eyes and were pulled into Daniel’s head.

* * *

_Suddenly, they were all standing next to one another in empty blackness, and in front of them, they could see Goliath standing with his arms crossed. He looked just like Daniel, only with red eyes and hair, along with black scleras, and instead of a blue hoodie with black jeans, he wore a black hoodie with navy jeans. “Well, I’m here. Now, who will go first?”_

_To everyone’s surprise, Daniel raised his hand. “Why did you want to see if I was worthy of my power? It’s my own power, I worked hard to train it, I poured everything I had into it. So what’s the deal?”_

_Goliath chuckled a bit. “To be honest, I just said that to be dramatic. I’ve been lying around in your head, dormant for several years since that memory I showed you. I was bored, so I thought, ‘let’s spice things up a little.’ I can’t actually control your power unless I take over your body, and I no longer think I even have the power to do that on my own anymore.” He smirked. “Besides, you’ve more than proven you’re worthy of your own semblance’s power. You went through hell and back, and after all of it, you came out smiling. Not even Teams RAJR and JJCN could deny it.”_

_Daniel smirked. “Damn right.”_

_Goliath glanced at the rest. “Any other questions?”_

_Rika raised her hand. “How long have you been inside Daniel’s head?”_

_Goliath pondered this for a moment. “After he discovered his semblance, at around six. I haven’t ever spoken to him before a week ago, however.”_

_Rika seemed satisfied with her answer, so Daniel went again after he realized something. “Wait, you said you can’t control my power, right?”_

_“Yes,” he answered._

_“So then that means that I can use the red version of my semblance whenever I want?”_

_“Yes….” Goliath seemed apprehensive._

_“So why’d you tell me that I couldn’t use the power that I ‘hadn’t unlocked’ yet?”_

_He sighed. “Along with more dramatic purposes, it’s because if you had found out that you could use this power whenever you wanted, you would’ve tried using it at a hundred percent straight away.”_

_“What’s wrong with that?” Maria asked._

_“Just because you_ can _use a power doesn’t always mean that you_ should, _” he said. “Especially at its fullest. He could use it right now, but his Aura wouldn’t be able to take it.”_

_“But he used it in Triterria,” Neon pointed out._

_“Yes, because_ I _was operating solely on his adrenaline,” Goliath admitted. “His adrenaline provided a window to use the power, but in case you forgot, he knocked out as soon as you all got off the airship, and slept for a day and a half after that. You have to train your Aura before you can use it to its maximum potential.” he shrugged as he sighed. “However, as long as you don’t go overboard, you’re able to use it to boost your semblance. I won’t have you wearing yourself out, so take caution when you do use it.”_

_Valerie started giggling. “You sure do like drama, don’t you?”_

_Goliath smirked. “Well, when you’re stuck by yourself for years, you’ll take any opportunity to crack a joke. I’m just keeping myself entertained.”_

_Suddenly, they all heard knocking and were pulled out of Daniel’s head._

* * *

Ashley was the first to open her eyes and she opened the door to see Jax and Sean standing outside. “Can we… help you?”

Jax put a hand to his chest in mock offense. “I can’t stop by just to say ‘hello’ to my brother and his friends?”

Daniel peered around Ashley and looked at Jax. “Well, seeing as you haven’t done that since coming to Beacon, I’m guessing you want something.” John snickered behind him.

She let them inside and Jax laughed. “Well, what I want is information. What happened on your mission with Dad?”

“Well, do you want the long version or the short version?” he asked.

Jax stretched his arms behind his head before dragging Sean to sit with him in their circle. “I want information, but not too much. Give me the in-between.”

Daniel shrugged and started speaking quickly. “Basically, our mission was to protect a criminal village from Grimm that posed no threat, but it was all a front so that Teams RAJR plus their dad, Clifford, could ambush Dad and my team, then they drugged him, Maria, and Rika, and then Clifford copied my semblance and gave it to Samantha and Team JASN came over for backup as Dad and the sisters woke up, and that’s when Team JJCN minus Nick came over to help Team RAJR, more fighting happened, then Samantha used a crystal sword to slash Ashley across the back, and I broke the world record for angriest man alive, then I got trapped in my own head by this guy in my head that looks like me as he took over my body and made my hair turn red and I was a different person for a while, then I had to fight him in my head and it was a draw but he let me go and then I was like, ‘I’m back, bitches’ to Teams RAJR and JJCN, and I held their asses back to stall for time so the airship could pick us up and we left the village as I knocked out on the airship.”

Three seconds of silence passed, and then John and Valerie cracked up on the floor, dying in laughter. Jax snickered. “You still managed to give me too much information.”

Daniel grinned. “But you’re my brother, so you understood all of it.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Jax laughed. 

“But what’s this about a ‘guy in your head’?” Sean asked.

John had stopped laughing as Rika and Valerie sat back up. “Bruh, you should’ve started with that!”

Daniel shrugged. “I’ll just let him do the talking. Nicole, if you would?”

She nodded and added Jax and Sean into the link. Goliath chuckled. _“Well, hello, Jaxson Springs. And Sean Arson as well.”_

“Uh, how do you know our names?” Jax asked.

“Hmm, I wonder why,” Maria said sarcastically. “Maybe it’s because he’s inside Daniel’s head and knows everything he does?”

Jax smiled. “Right, sorry. So you just… _found_ him?”

_“No, I’ve been here since he discovered his semblance,”_ Goliath explained a second time.

Jax nodded. “I see. But why did you choose to appear now?”  
  


“Why doesn’t Nicole just show you?” Maria spoke up. 

Nicole shrugged and tapped Jax and Sean on the forehead, and their eyes glazed over for a second, before turning back to normal. “Alright, I get it now.” 

“Never do that again without warning,” Sean glared.

Nicole grinned mischievously. “No promises!”

“Well, we should get going,” Jax said. “It was good talking to you all.” Sean nodded along and they left the dorm room.

Rika laid down on the floor. “Talking to your brother is always fun!”

“It’s too bad Sean doesn’t talk much,” Nicole put her hands around her head.

Daniel looked at Ashley, who had been silent for a while and didn’t seem to be paying attention to the book she was reading. “Hey, Ashley, you okay?”

She looked up at Daniel. “Huh? Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine to me,” he said. “Is something bothering you?”

She looked away and shrugged. “I was just thinking… about the fight at Triterria Village… and how I could have done more if I didn’t get hurt.”

Daniel walked over to Ashley’s bed and sat down next to her. “I already told you it wasn’t your fault. We all did as much as we could.” He pulled her into a hug. “Besides, they got punished for what they did, so it’s all fine.”

She gave a tiny smile. “I guess so.”

Daniel grinned. “And hey! We’re all still here, alive and healthy!”

Her smile grew a little. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s give it our all at the tournament.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something big is going to happen at the Vytal Tournament. It’s gonna be at least four parts. I can’t wait!


	28. School's Out - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW***  
> This is where the fun begins! However, before the chapter begins, I have a few important notes on how this tournament will go for Teams DAMN, JASN, RAJR, and JJCN. If the RWBY fandom website is correct, 32 teams are participating in this tournament, which means a lot of it will just be conversations about some battles and their results, instead of actual fight scenes, but I might make some side characters for the sole purpose of the battles. After all, the tournament ends abruptly because of Pyrrha and Penny’s fight. However, I will obviously include Team DAMN, JASN, RAJR, and JJCN’s fights in the story.
> 
> Also, I’m making Penny’s team Team CPPR, because no one knows the real team’s name or their other two members.

**_In a certain team’s dorm room…_ **

Cinder paced around the room. “And you’re sure?”

Mercury nodded. “Bad hair, used a scythe, and smelled like my dad after a long day. It was him.”

“What do we do now?” Emerald asked. 

She stopped pacing. “Nothing. We stay the course. They have no idea who we are, so we have no reason to worry. Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of, thanks to our clever little friend.”

There was knocking at the door, and they all stopped talking to see who was there. Once they did, they let them in.

“I know we’re interrupting your little nefarious chitchat,” Samantha said. “But we have some news.” The rest of Team RAJR stepped inside.

“Is it important?” Cinder asked.

“Technically, yes,” Audrey answered. “There are two teams I know that we need either out of the tournament early, or kept around for the finals.”

“What for?” Mercury inquired.

“If they had even an ounce of suspicion that something’s off, I know for a fact that they’d stop the plan before it can be executed. I just want you to put Team DAMN and JASN against people that they can beat so they don’t have time to worry about us.”

Cinder pondered this. “Alright. I can make it happen. Speaking of which.” She grabbed a scroll from a desk. “It appears we have a new access point.”

“Anywhere good?” Emerald asked.

“You could say that,” she smirked. “Go to your rooms. I’ll prepare everything for tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am,” Emerald and Team RAJR said.   
  


“Got it,” Mercury mock-saluted.

Everyone else left the room, and Cinder swiped up several times on the scroll. “Let’s give the crowd a good fight.”

* * *

**_Amity Colosseum, spectator stands._ **

**General POV**

Teams DAMN and JASN were watching the match between Team RWBY and Team ABRN, excitement bristling about the two teams. Each member was waiting eagerly for their turn to fight. Even Ashley and Maria were bouncing their legs in anticipation.

“Have you guys decided who you’re gonna send for the doubles and singles rounds?” Valerie asked.

Daniel shook his head. “We’re gonna wait and see who we go up against. What about you?”

John smirked. “For the doubles, it’s gonna be me and Nicole, since I’m an offense kind of guy, and she can pick off enemies’ Aura at a range, then I’ll come out again for singles and use my semblance until their Aura runs out.”

“It’s a good plan, but it all depends on who we’re all up against,” Maria said.

Everyone started cheering as Team RWBY won their match against Team ABRN and the intermission started as the other teams got ready for the next round. Teams DAMN and JASN walked out of the spectator stands and toward the direction of the fairground in search of food. They found a stand named ‘Pizza This!’ and sat down on the stools. The owner came up to the counter and spoke in a heavy accent. “Hello, and-a what can I get for you-a?”

Daniel looked at his friends, judging their looks. “Two pepperoni and chicken pizzas, please.”

“A-coming right up!” He brought out two pre-baked pizzas, put them on a silver circular tray, and served them to us. “Here you go!”

They each split the cost and took two slices. John hummed in satisfaction. “This is some good pizza!”

Neon nodded. “Better than some pizzerias I’ve gone to.”

“We should come here more often!” Valerie exclaimed. “Hopefully there’s one of these down in Vale!”

“Nothing like some great food to go with a great event,” Ashley smiled.

They finished their pizzas quickly as they heard a screeching sound as Professor Port’s voice blared through the speakers.  _ “Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately?” _ Then Dr. Oobleck’s voice was heard as well.  _ “Yes, like they were scheduled to  _ several minutes ago?! _ ” _

“Seems it’s time to return to the stands,” Maria said.

Nicole jumped out of her seat. “Alright! Let’s go!” They walked back to Amity Colosseum to watch the next fight. By the time they got there, the match had already started, but Team JNPR seemed to be discussing something in the middle of the battle.

“What the hell are they doing?” Nicole asked, confused.

“I don’t know, but it’s hilarious!” John managed to say between laughs.

“How is it funny?” Neon asked.

“It’s stupid,” Maria deadpanned.

“That’s why it’s funny!” he gasped out. “Who discusses team attack names in the middle of battle?!”

Jaune told Nora something, and she jumped in front of the other team and swung her hammer at all four of them, sending them flying to the forcefield protecting the spectators. The buzzer rang and Team JNPR won the match.

“Well, that was quick,” Neon commented. 

“At least they won,” Ashley said.

“It was still funny,” John chuckled.

The next match between Team NDGO and Team SSSN was about to begin, and they finally got to see Sun and Neptune’s teammates Scarlet David and Sage Ayana. Scarlet had his hair in a side sweep style, and it was, like his name, scarlet. He also had a small tattoo on his left eye. He had a bandana around his neck, a plain t-shirt, and white jeans with brown combat boots and a cutlass sheathed behind him with a flintlock pistol on his waist. Sage had dark green hair in a spiky quiff style and had nothing on his chest but a lab coat, along with black jeans and a very large broadsword on his back. They were all waving at the crowd and Neptune winked at the opposing team which consisted of females only.

“BREAK HIS STUPID FACE, NDGO!” They heard Weiss scream.

“Someone’s jealous,” John said to Daniel.

“No kidding,” he responded.

The biomes selected were the desert and the ocean as Dr. Oobleck counted down, and the match began with Neptune instantly making a beeline for the desert side.

“The hell?” Nicole asked.

“Oh, I think Jax told me that Sun told him that Neptune has aquaphobia,” John remembered.

“Doesn’t his semblance let him control water?” Valerie asked.

“Yes, yes it is,” John answered. “So imagine that. He can’t even use his semblance without fear.”

Maria facepalmed and sighed. “I don’t think they’ll win this one.”

To their surprise, Team SSSN actually won the match. Sun had managed to throw the girls into the water and Neptune poked his electrical staff into the water and electrocuted them.

“Wow, I didn’t think that would happen!” Valerie exclaimed. “It still must’ve taken Neptune a bunch of courage to approach the water though!”

“Eh, what happens, happens,” Nicole said. “Whose turn is it anyway?”

_ “Would Team JASN please make their way to the battlefield?” _ Professor Port’s voice boomed over the crowd.

John grinned. “Finally.”

Daniel smirked, and turned to the team. “Knock ‘em out. Literally.”

“We will!” Valerie exclaimed.

“Now let’s see who our opponents are,” Neon smiled.

Team JASN said their goodbyes and walked toward the waiting lobby.

* * *

“Of course it’s you guys,” John groaned.

Team JASN was in a staredown with Team JJCN, the latter of which three members were smirking, and the other frowned. Dakota laughed. “It seems we get a rematch earlier than expected!”

Cole grinned. “This time, there’s only four of us, so this battle should be much quicker!”

Nicole exhaled. “Good. Then we can get this over with quickly.”

Dakota’s smirk became smug. “And then  _ we _ will advance to the doubles.”

“In your dreams, maybe,” Neon grumbled.

Nick looked at Team JASN. “Sorry guys, but I’m not gonna hold back.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” John grinned.

Holographic screens appeared on each side of the octagon, deciding the biomes that will be used for the match. The four behind Team JJCN landed on the Ice biome, and the four behind Team JASN landed on the Mountain biome. The arena started shifting around, setting itself up for the battle. When it was done, Dr. Oobleck started the countdown.

_ “3, 2, 1, begin!” _

As soon as the starting buzzer was heard, all of Team JJCN spread out, save for Dakota, who was taking shots at John with his pistols. John spun his spear around to deflect the shots and Nicole ran behind an ice wall for cover as she took out her sniper and shot at whatever target happened to be in her scope. Said target happened to be Cole, and she fired a bullet at his head. He just barely managed to create a barrier in time, and the bullet bounced harmlessly off of it. Meanwhile, Valerie had found Nick and was currently fighting him with The Revealer. He Jumped back, swiftly turned the hammer into that weird rifle that looked like a variation of the M14 S.A.S.S. rifle, and fired four shots in under half a second at point-blank range. She activated her semblance and all of the shots passed right through her. Nick saw this and his eyes changed to a neon green instead of the normal dark brown. Valerie looked in his eyes and he hit her with two shots to the stomach. 

She jumped back. “What the hell was that?!”

Nick smiled. “My semblance in Deactivation. If I focus on someone’s pupils, I can disable their semblance for a little while. You won’t be going through anything for a few minutes.”

_ Valerie! _ Nicole telepathized.  _ Make a wall of ice under him and throw him up! _

Valerie pressed the ‘Release’ button on The Revealer, and created a wall of ice under Nick, throwing him up in the air. As soon as he peaked, Nicole shot him out of the air and he landed on an unfortunate Cole.

Valerie looked over to Nicole and smiled.  _ Thanks. _

_ No problem, _ She grinned back. She linked her teammates’ minds together.  _ Listen up! Nick’s semblance is Deactivation. Don’t make eye contact! _

_ Got it, _ John and Neon responded. Neon ran at Joe and slammed Slice and Dice against Joe’s katana and he stumbled back a bit as she rapidly spun them around, hitting his katana every time. She dug her ax into a tree, spun around twice, and launched herself at joe, swinging Slice upwards and disarming him, then spinning around again and slamming Dice into his shoulder.

_ Duck! _ Nicole shouted. Neon dodged to the side as a bullet hit Joe right in the forehead, sending him flying into the base of the mountain and bringing his Aura below the threshold as a buzzer rang. Cole decided to get back up and stopped Neon in place with his barriers. Nick deactivated her semblance and took a few shots at her, draining her Aura slightly. Nicole jumped out from behind cover, turned her sniper into the assault rifle, and fired rapidly at Cole, breaking his concentration on Neon and letting Nicole lead her away behind a rock on the side of the mountain.

“You okay?” Nicole asked.

She nodded. “He disabled my semblance, but it doesn’t matter since it’s not much use in a fight.”

“Alright, let’s get up higher so I can snipe them.” Nicole grabbed Neon’s hand and climbed the mountain, positioning her sniper by a small bush.

Meanwhile, John was fighting Dakota, who was jumping through portals to avoid his attacks. John blew up the ground underneath him, blasting himself upwards, and shot four times at Dakota as he jumped through another portal, hitting him twice and missing the other two. Dakota finally stopped jumping through portals and fired rapidly at John, but he deflected most of the shots as he fell back down. Dakota tried to get in close, but John created an explosion right in his face, draining his Aura a decent amount. He tried to punch Dakota, but he made a portal in front of him, and John passed through, slamming into Valerie, and in turn slamming into Nick. They jumped off of him, and Nick looked irritated.

“What the hell, Dakota?!” he shouted.

Dakota shrugged unapologetically. “Sorry, she was the closest person.”

Nick rolled his eyes and swung his hammer at John and he ducked under it, but Nick ended up hitting Valerie in the side and sending her into a boulder, draining her Aura down from the thirty-seven percent it was at to twenty-five percent. John scowled and put on some dark-tinted sunglasses that Nick couldn’t see through.

“Now you’ve all done it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:  
> This is The Beginning of The End, but there’s gonna be some short stories in between for two reasons: One, it can’t all be serious. Two, some of these stories are half the reason I made this fic. They were originally supposed to be actual chapters, but I made horrible miscalculations and ended up passing a lot of moments in this story that were supposed to be important. So this is the only opportune time for me to put these stories here.


	29. School's Out - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important stuff will be explained in the endnotes. (And yes, apparently 'endnotes' is contractable. Just learned it today.)

**_Amity Colosseum._**

**General POV.**

“Now you’ve all done it.”

John propelled himself toward the center of the arena with a blast toward Nick and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. At the same time, Nicole had fired a round from her sniper at Dakota’s head, who had been running towards John, taking off at least ten percent of his Aura. Neon had jumped down from her place next to Nicole and landed behind Cole, attaching Slice and Dice and hitting Cole twice. 

Dakota got back up and made a portal up to the top of the mountain, right where Nicole was. She quickly switched Big Bang to its assault rifle form, but Dakota shot her four times and dragged her through the portal. “There’s nowhere to hide from me.” 

Nicole scoffed. “Maybe not, but I don’t need to hide to beat you.” She fired seven bullets at him, but only two of them hit. Dakota lunged and struck her with his dagger, but it didn’t do very much. Nicole switched Big Bang back to its sniper form and shot Dakota from close-ranged, another ten percent of his Aura gone. Valerie then came out of nowhere and struck Dakota with The Revealer coated in Lightning Dust, draining his Aura and seven percent.

“ _Ho-ho!_ ” Professor Port’s voice boomed. “ _What a battle we have here! For those of you just tuning in, here are the current standings!_ ”

The camera panned to the holo-screen and the percentages were at the following amounts: John; 67%. Nicole; 58%. Valerie; 24%. Neon; 41%. Dakota; 37% Joe; 7% (K.O.) Cole; 44%. Nick; 60%.

“ _Team JASN is currently in the lead, but not by much!_ ” Dr. Oobleck pointed out. “ _They’ll have to think strategically and work efficiently if they want to win this round!_ ”

John was engaged in a battle with Nick as he threw explosions left and right, cutting off escape routes and forcing him to focus on John alone instead of the others, Neon was still busy with Cole as he kept on making barriers to block her strikes, and Valerie and Nicole were keeping Dakota at bay with Big Bang’s bullet spray and Valerie’s Dust combinations. Dakota’s Aura was rapidly diminishing thanks to them, but Neon was having a hard time keeping up with Cole. She was rapidly sidestepping Cole’s spear as he spun it around, but he tripped her with the tip of the spear and struck her temple as she fell. Her Aura dipped to thirty-seven percent as she hit the floor, and John pushed Nick into a tree to go help her. He slammed Wildfire into Cole’s spear. As they locked shafts, John whipped out Blizzard and shot Cole three times in rapid succession. He doubled over in pain, and John shot him three more times, taking a second to reload. He whacked Cole’s head with Wildfire, kicked his shin, and blasted him into the ground with an explosion. Not giving him a chance to get back up, John exploded him three more times as the buzzer rang.

“ _And Cole Brandon is down as well with a few blasts from John Hawkin!_ ” Dr. Oobleck’s voice boomed. “ _Team JJCN only has two teammates left!_ ”

“Not anymore,” Nick said under his breath. He sprinted towards Neon and slammed his hammer into her side, sending her out of bounds, and he whacked John with the leftover momentum into the base of the mountain. John’s Aura was now at fifty-four percent.

“Neon!” John shouted. 

“Nice one, Nick!” Dakota exclaimed.

“Damn it!” Nicole returned Big Bang to its sniper form and fired three rounds at Nick, but only one hit him on the shin. Valerie ran up to Nick and froze him in place with Ice Dust and John blasted himself towards Nick and kicked his hip. They were all dangerously close to the edge right where the biomes split, and Dakota shot Valerie five times with his pistols. She fell to one knee as Dakota kicked her over the edge and another buzzer rang.

“ _And just like that, Neon Annorose and Valerie Simmons are out of bounds!”_ Professor Port shouted. “ _Suddenly, Team JASN is down two members!_ ”

“Valerie!” Nicole yelled.

“Just a loud shorty and a bright pest to deal with,” Dakota grinned.

“Don’t call me short, damn it!” Nicole screamed. “You’re gonna pay for that!” She shot Dakota in the stomach and kicked him backward, but he made a portal that brought him right back up. Nick hit John with the hammer to send him over, but John blasted himself upwards and then back toward Dakota. He struck him in his right shoulder and blasted him over the edge again, but once again he made a portal, this time directly behind John. His ears twitched, and he ducked instinctively, dodging the flying kick. He shot his hand upwards and blasted Dakota up into the air and he slammed against the arena’s forcefield above them. He fell back down and John knocked him off the arena midair with Wildfire. Nick slammed his warhammer into Nicole and pushed her back, but she fired three sniper rounds in rapid succession and brought him at the very edge of the arena. John jumped in front of him and smirked. 

“We win.”

He ignited his hand in pushed Nick over the edge with an explosion. Two buzzers rang, and victory was theirs.

“ _And in an amazing display of agility and strength, Team JASN wins the round!_ ” Dr. Oobleck shouted.

John had his hands on his knees as he looked up at the crowd. “Nice job, guys.”

* * *

Team DAMN was in the waiting lobby with Team JASN, eager for their turn. They were all talking amongst themselves, save for Nicole who was sitting on a couch by herself.

“That was awesome!” Rika exclaimed, practically speaking with her hands. “You were all like, bang, whoosh, boom, shing, crash!”

“What can I say?” John leaned back and smirked. “My team is the best.”

“Ego much?” Daniel snickered.

“Look who’s talking, Mr. I’ll-Fight-Everyone,” he retorted.

“Excuse me for being the best,” Daniel said smugly.

“There’s the ego, right there.”

“As if you don’t have any either.”

“Never said I did, but I don’t have as big an ego as you.”

“I do not have that big an ego.”

“Daniel, you have more ego than anyone on the planet.”

“Doubtful.”

Ashley shook her head, standing next to Maria. “Why is this even a debate?”

Maria shrugged. “I don’t know, they both have enormous egos. But I must admit, John did pretty good.”

John’s ears perked up. “Hear that? _Maria_ said I did good!”

She chopped him on the head, hiding a small smile that formed on her lips. “That was _not_ an ego booster. And don’t expect that to be a common occurrence. I just think that you’re very adaptable in certain situations.”

John smirked. “Just say I’m cool.”

“No.”

“I’ll make you say it one day.”

“And how will you do that?”

“I’ll fight you and win.”

“As if.”

Daniel walked over to Ashley’s side and spoke quietly. “Woah, what happened to Maria?”

Ashley tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, she seems a little more… loose.” He looked over to her talking with John. She was trying to hide a smile, but it still showed on her face that she was enjoying the conversation.

She shrugged. “Well, people change with time, even if they don’t realize it.” 

Daniel chuckled. “Well, as long as they’re not killing each other, I guess it’s all good.”

Meanwhile, Nicole was sitting on a couch away from the others. Valerie saw this and walked over to the couch. Nicole was blushing and pointedly looking away from her, but Valerie just giggled. 

“It’s nice to see you care about me,” she said.

“Shut up, I hate you,” Nicole blushed even more.

“Aw, come on!” Valerie pouted. “Don’t hurt my feelings! You don’t really hate me, do you?”

She looked down. “No, I don’t.”

Valerie smiled again and patted her on the head. “Aww, you little tsundere!”

Nicole smacked Valerie’s hand off of her head a little more forcefully than she meant to. “I’m not that short! I’m five-foot-one, that’s only slightly below average!”

Valerie flinched slightly as Nicole realized her sudden outburst and looked away guiltily. Valerie put a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “Are you bothered about your height?”

Nicole glared at her halfheartedly, then sighed quietly as her gaze dropped to the floor. “I’m bothered about my physique in general. People think I’m shorter than average even if only by a few inches, I don’t have much muscle so I’m not that strong, and my chest is the smallest out of all of you. And all of that is true. Even Neon is two sizes bigger than me, and she’s only older than me by three minutes!”

Valerie frowned. “Well, one thing in that list is incorrect.”

Nicole looked at her, the glare from before gone. “And what’s that?”

Valerie pulled Neon into a hug, surprising her. “You _are_ a strong person. Don’t put yourself down like that. Don’t think about what other people think about you. You need to value yourself more.”

Nicole got over her shock and leaned into the hug. “Th-thank you.”

Valerie released her from the hug. “Do you feel better about yourself now?”

Nicole nodded. “A little bit.”

She smiled. “Good. Now let’s go back to the group.”

Valerie got up from the couch and walked back to the others, and Nicole had one thought in her mind after that.

_Now that I think about it, she’s actually pretty cute._

* * *

_“Would Team DAMN please make their way to the arena?”_ Professor Port’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

“Well, it seems we finally get a turn,” Daniel grinned, walking out the door. “We’ll see you guys later.”

“Later,” John waved. “And hey, Daniel?”  
  


He turned around. “What?”

John smirked. “Try and beat my performance.”

Daniel knit his eyebrows and smirked widely. “You know I will.”

They left the waiting lobby and entered the arena, and when they saw their opponents, Daniel’s smirk only grew wider.

“ _The match between Team DAMN and Team JADE will begin now!”_ Dr. Oobleck exclaimed.

Daniel formed Vendetta and spun it around in his hand twice. “Fuck yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, I need to state that I haven't really developed my characters, and the reason for that is I got so caught up in the flow of writing, I completely forgot about them and the main characters of the series. Next week's chapter is going to be a collection of short stories, all in different time periods (I'll have the name of the chapter they take place between after the line break,) so I can properly develop my characters and you can see how the romance will start. That's all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	30. Extras - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty long extra chapter, hope you enjoy!

First up, “Cruising,” a hilariously stupid idea I had before I started writing The First Year. I play a lot of Fortnite (Yeah yeah, boo all you want, Fortnite haters) and I really like some of the emotes, especially the Jaywalk emote, so I decided this would be fun to read and write—even if this dance isn’t originally from Fortnite, the music is still good. Just look up Jaywalk on youtube, and then add in the Fortnite music.

Also, I would like a really detailed map of Beacon for future reference.

* * *

**_Team JASN’s dorm, one day before the Vytal Festival Tournament…_ **

**General POV.**

Daniel, John, and Jax were in Team JASN’s dorm room when the former two of the three asked Jax something.

“Hey, Jax,” Daniel tapped him on the shoulder.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“Daniel and I are rallying up our friends and giving them black suits and sunglasses to Jaywalk down the halls of Beacon. I was wondering if--”

“No, shut up. Leave me alone, you absolute fools.", Jax interrupted. 

Daniel laughed. “Come on, Jax! It’ll be fun!”

Jax deadpanned. “The last time you told me that, I had to pull you out of a tree because you thought you could squeeze through a branch.”

Daniel pouted. “I was ten years old and bored, I’m sixteen now. Besides, it’s only dancing through school! Sun and Neptune are gonna join too!”

Jax shook his head. “They’re idiots, that’s why.”

John smirked. “We’ll leave you alone until after the tournament if you do.”

Jax sighed. “You really won’t take no for an answer, will you?”

Daniel and John shook their heads. He sighed again, except more dramatically this time. “Fine, I’ll go ask Darwin.”

Daniel and John high-fived and Daniel grinned. “You won’t regret it!”

Jax rolled his eyes. “I’m sure I will, but whatever.”

Daniel and John brought out a suit and a pair of sunglasses for Jax and left the dorm room to go get the suits for Sun and Neptune.

* * *

After they gathered up everyone who was gonna participate, Daniel, John, Jax, Darwin, Sean, Sun, and Neptune stood outside Team JADE’s dorm.

“Uh, when did Sean get here?” John asked.

“Jax told me to put on a suit and sunglasses and come with him,” Sean said, a little irritated. “I thought we were going on a date, but little did I know he would trick me into doing something moronic.”

“If I gotta do it, you’re coming with me.” Jax deadpanned.

Darwin shrugged. “This is what happens when you date a crazy guy.”

Jax rolled his eyes. “Your IQ level is literally negative, don’t act like you’re normal.”

Darwin put one hand to his chest and the other on his forehead in mock hurt. “Your words wound me.”

“Anyway, are we gonna get this started?” Sun grinned. He had his suit a little buttoned-down because he was Sun.

“Just one second.” Daniel picked up a boombox and used his crystals to secure it over his shoulders, then he took out his scroll and put on some music. “Can’t dance without music, now can you?”

Jax rolled his eyes again. “That’s literally not the original music, but okay.”

“It’s better music than the original,” Daniel said. “Alright, here’s how it’s gonna go. We’re gonna line up in the following order: Me, John, Jax, Sun, Neptune, Sean, and Darwin. There’s going to be one meter between each of us, and we’re gonna Jaywalk from here through the first-year dorm building, through the Study Hall, going all the way to the back of the Dining Hall, and then come back here on the same route. We also have to do it all while looking as serious as possible.” 

John adjusted his sunglasses. “And anyone who looks at us funny is just jealous they don’t have the style we do.”

“Yeah! We’re gonna be the coolest in the whole academy!” Sun pumped his fist.

Sean shook his head. “We’re gonna be the _stupidest_ in the whole academy.”

Neptune shrugged. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

John nodded. “Because you’re an intellectual.”

“Finally, someone understands!” he high-fived John.

Jax sighed. “Whatever, let’s just get this over with.”

Daniel grinned. “Alright, let’s go!” He pressed play on his scroll, and music began to play from the boombox on his shoulders at a moderate volume. “Everyone, just follow my lead!”

He hardened his face and started twisting one foot in front of the other in a walking motion as the others soon followed suit. It was a very strange sight for any students lingering in the hallways, looking at seven guys just dancing in a suit and sunglasses, not to mention the fact that they looked like the FBI. They passed Team JNPR in the dorm’s common area, and they just stared in bewilderment as they came and went.

“I’m not the only one who saw that, right?” Jaune asked his teammates.

“No, you are not,” Ren responded, continuing to sip his tea.

They left the dorm building and turned left to go through the study halls, and Team CFVY was walking ahead of them. Velvet heard the music and turned around to face them, along with the rest of her teammates. When they did, they each just looked at them confusedly.

“What are you guys doing?” Velvet asked.

They all Jaywalked right past Team CFVY, with John saying “Sorry, we can’t talk right now. We’re on important business.” Once they were gone, Team CFVY just shrugged and kept walking back to their dorm building. They danced through the Study Halls and attracted the looks of several students. They reached the Dining Hall and Daniel used his crystals to open the doors, where a copious amount of students were eating, including the rest of John and Daniel’s team. Everyone started laughing amongst themselves, while their friends stared at them with varying looks; Ashley and Neon were confused, Maria was frowning, Valerie and Nicole were struggling to hide their laughter, and Rika was giggling.

“What are you _doing?_ ” Valerie asked.

They all stopped walking and turned to the table the girls were sitting at, but they were still Jaywalking in place. “We’re on important business.”

“I… highly doubt that,” Maria deadpanned.

“Even Jax and Sean are there!” Rika was still laughing.

“I thought you two would be the first ones to say no,” Ashley said.

Jax shrugged. “They promised to leave me alone until after the tournament.”

Sean frowned. “And Jax tricked me into it by saying we’d go on a date.”

Darwin laughed. “I thought it would be fun!”

Neptune smirked. “And you gotta admit, we look cool.”

Sun grinned. “Yeah! No one can tell us otherwise!”

Maria sighed and looked at Sean. “I send my condolences to you.”

“Thanks,” he shrugged.

“Why’d you wanna do this, though?” Neon asked.

Daniel grinned. “Because it’s cool.”

Ashley chuckled. “Sure, that’s one word.”

John scoffed. “Come on, seven guys in suits and sunglasses dancing down the halls, How is that not cool? Nicole, you agree, right?”

Nicole shrugged. “No comment.”

He scoffed again. “Come on, guys, let’s Jaywalk away from these heretics and showed them how cool we really are.”

They turned back to their original destination and kept dancing until they reached the back wall, where they went around the row of tables where the girls were sitting, passing them again and ignoring any ‘heretical’ comments. They left the Dining Hall, and as they did, Ashley and Neon started snickering, while Maria chuckled softly.

“How did we even hold a straight face?” Neon asked.

“I don’t know,” Ashley admitted.

Maria smiled softly. “Daniel and John are something else. I’ll never understand how they’re able to make anyone laugh.”

Nicole smirked slyly. “Even you?”

Maria went silent. “Yes, even me. But never tell John that.”

They all nodded in agreement.

The guys walked through the Study Hall once again and came back into the dorm building, where they passed Team RWBY as well.

“Oh hey, guys!” Ruby chirped. 

“Whatcha, uh… doing?” Yang asked.

Sun smirked. “Once again, we’re on important business.”

Blake deadpanned. “I… don’t think this counts as ‘important business.’”

Neptune smiled flirtatiously at Weiss. “I think it does.”

Weiss rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Whatever you say.”

“Well, we gotta go,” John said. “Business awaits.”

They left Team RWBY and returned to Team JASN’s dorm, where Daniel finally turned off the music and they took off their sunglasses.

“That was horrifyingly stupid,” Jax said.

“Aw, come on!” John stretched his arms out. “It was fun!”

“No no, it was absolutely idiotic,” Sean nodded.

Sun crossed his arms. “You guys just don’t know what fun is.”

Jax deadpanned. “No, your ideas of fun are just incredibly different from ours.”

“Come on, Jax, it wasn’t _that_ bad,” Darwin said.

“I’m going to my dorm.” Jax walked out of the room and Sean followed him.

“Sorry, he’s just cranky,” Darwin apologized.

Daniel scoffed. “I should apologize to _you._ He’s _my_ brother, after all.”

Darwin laughed and walked after Jax and Sean, while Sun and Neptune both got up to leave as well, Sun extending his hand. “We should also get going. Can we keep the suits, though?”

John laughed. “Sure, go off, man! We won’t need five extra suits, anyway.”

Sun bowed in thanks and dragged Neptune out of the room. John fell back on his bed. “We’re idiots, aren’t we?”

Daniel sighed. “It would seem we are." He smirked at John. "Wouldn't change a thing, though.”

He laughed. "Me either."

* * *

WOW, that was a long story. Who knew adding in so many details would make something so long? Sorry about that, didn’t mean to make you read ‘The Declaration of Independence.”  
Anyway, on to the next story, 'I wonder,' which takes place two days after the extra with Rika and Neon, and instead, focusing and Valerie and Nicole! By the way, in case no one knew—because I just realized I never made it clear—Valerie usually wears a navy blue t-shirt and frilled skirt with black thigh-highs.

* * *

**General POV.**

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

Nicole was currently in the workshop with Valerie, working on a new melee weapon for herself. She didn’t really have any melee weapon, nor was she any good with one, but she was determined to make her own and train with it.

“Making a really complicated weapon?” Valerie tilted her head.

Nicole groaned. “It’s supposed to be a retracting longsword! So I can change its size for any situation!”

Valerie chuckled. “Seems like ‘supposed to’ is the keyword here.”

The weapon on the table looked more like if someone melted several different metals, cooled them down, and tried to put it together with glue to make some sort of fishing rod. Nicole dropped the hammer she was holding in frustration. “I’ve been trying this for over two hours now! I’m more of a gunsmith, I can’t even _use_ melee weapons, much less make them!”

Valerie shrugged. “Maybe you should ask Daniel to make you a crystal sword? Just so you can get used to it?”

Nicole pondered this for a minute. “Well, I guess it’s not a _terrible_ idea.”

Valerie beamed. “Alright! Let’s go find him!”

Nicole grabbed Valerie’s shirt to stop her and picked up the metal. “What about this?”

“Just leave it there,” she waved her hand dismissively. 

Nicole placed it back on the table and followed Valerie towards Team DAMN’s dorm room. Maria and Ashley were the only ones occupying the room, however. Ashley’s ears perked up as the two stepped inside.

“Hey, girls,” she greeted. “Can we help you?”

“We’re looking for Daniel,” Nicole said. “Do you know where he is?”

“He’s in the gym with John,” Maria told them.

Valerie nodded. “‘Kay, thanks,” She turned on her heel and left, Nicole following after her. They walked through the hallways in silence before Valerie broke it. “I have a question about your semblance.”  
  


Nicole shrugged. “Shoot.”

“Is there a limit to how many people you can link together?” she asked.

Nicole pondered this for a moment. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried to find out. I do know that I can at least link all of our friends together, so maybe I can try to link more.”

Valerie nodded affirmatively. “That makes sense. Another question, does a link go away?”

“Only when I want it to,” she said. “A link is different from me just reading thoughts. When I use my semblance, I have to be within a certain distance from the person. With a link, I could go as far as I wanted and still keep in touch. The link will remain until I deactivate it.”

Valerie smiled. “That’s a pretty nifty semblance. It’d be very useful in a situation like a team battle.”

Nicole shook her head. “Yeah, but it’s not anything combat-related like yours or John’s.”

“I don’t know about that,” Valerie disagreed. “I think for a girl of your skills, it pairs well with combat situations, _and_ it’s pretty practical and convenient.”

“Practical?” she asked. “How so?”

“Well, let’s say you create a link with all of us,” Valerie begins. “If one of us is ever in trouble, they could call for help and we’d be there. And, y’know, if anyone’s ever talking about you behind your back, you could invade their thoughts and beat ‘em up!”

Nicole snorted. “Okay, I guess you’re right. That _is_ kinda nice.”

They arrived at the gym, where Daniel and John were competing against each other to see how many pull-ups they could do in sixty seconds.

“Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five!” Daniel counted.

“And time!” John pressed the stop button on his scroll’s stopwatch. “Forty-five! Not bad! My turn!”

“Uh, before you two continue,” Valerie spoke up. “We have a question for Daniel.”

He dropped down from the power rack. “What’s up?”

“We wanted to know if you could make a sword for me with your crystals,” Nicole said. “I was trying to make one myself, but it didn’t work out.”

“It looked more like a fishing rod,” Valerie added.

“Sure, I can make one,” Daniel nodded. “But what’re you guys gonna use it for?”  
  


Nicole shrugged. “I’m trying to train with melee weapons. I’m only used to long-range combat, but I’m not always gonna get to use Big Bang.”

“That’s a good point,” Daniel agreed. “What kind of sword do you want?”

“Just a basic twenty-inch, double-edged shortsword,” she waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing too fancy.”

Daniel turned up his palm and formed a sword, handing it to her. “Here you go. One crystal double-edged shortsword. It’s not sharp enough to cut, so go off.”

Valerie nodded. “Thanks.” She grabbed Nicole’s hand and left the gym, heading for the training arena. Nicole blushed as she took notice of this and tried to get her hand free.

“Hey!” she exclaimed. “You don’t need to hold my hand the whole time!”

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be a baby about it, let’s just go!”

Nicole shook her head. _This girl is something else._

* * *

This is gonna be a 2-part story that will be continued in the next chapter. For now, here’s a short little interaction between John and Maria, which takes place a few hours before the dance at Beacon.

* * *

**General POV.**

John and Maria were walking to one of the faculty rooms, having been told to retrieve some paperwork for an upcoming class. John had something on his mind for a while now, so he thought now’s a good time to ask. “Hey, Maria?”

“Yes, John?” she answered.

He pursed his lips before he spoke. “I was thinking, since the dance is coming up, you got anyone you’d dance with?” 

She shook her head. “No one comes to mind, no. Why do you ask?”

His voice wavered a bit. “W-well, I don’t have anyone either, so I was wondering since we don’t have a date to the dance… would you, uh, like to accompany me to the dance?” Maria looked at him and started chuckling. “What? What’s so funny?”

“For all that talk of being charming and flirtatious, you sure are awkward at times,” she said. “But yes, I would like to go with you.”

John’s right ear perked up and his left one twitched. “Wait, seriously?!”

Maria rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Yes, John, I’ll go with you.”

He grinned. “Hell yeah! I would do a fist-pump right now, but my hands are full at the moment!”

Maria smiled fondly and shook her head. “Never change, Jonathan. Never change.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, nothing like some good friendly interactions, amirite? Anyway, next week is the next chapter, and there will be more extras at the end! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, bye for now!


	31. School's Out - Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was looking at the locations and POVs at the beginning of every chapter, and I found I’m horribly inconsistent with the punctuation. It’s supposed to be: Location, period. POV, semi-colon, period. I’ma go back to every chapter and fix it because I hate typos like THEY CAN GO DIE IN HELL--  
> Ahem, lost my temper there. Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

**_Amity Colosseum._ **

**General POV.**

“Fuck yeah.”

The two teams stared at each other as the biomes were being selected. Jax rolled his eyes. “You can consider this a rematch for last time.”

“Obviously,” Daniel said. “I still have to fight Sean.”

Jax’s ears shot up. “Wait, what? Daniel Springs, dear brother of mine, please tell me you did  _ not _ give Sean the ‘talk’.”

Daniel scoffed. “Relax, I didn’t threaten him or anything, I just said I wanted to test him.”

Jax looked at Sean. “Did he?”

He shook his head. “No, those were pretty much his exact words.”

Jax groaned. “Do you best. You’ll want to make sure you stay away from the lightning. You remember that little trick he did? Well, he’s probably mastered it by now.”

He nodded. “Got it.”

“No wise words of wisdom for us?” Evan asked sarcastically, fiddling with what looked like an assault rifle with a whip attached to it. “Thanks, oh-so-powerful leader.”

“Shut up, I’m not your dad, figure it out,” Jax said. 

Darwin sighed, unsheathing his broadsword. “That’s our leader for ya. Cares about nothing except food and his boyfriend.”

The biomes were finally selected: Ocean behind Team JADE, and Forest behind Team DAMN. Daniel grinned while forming crystal greaves, turning his hair blue, and whispering to his teammates. “This is a pretty good biome setup, Rika, use your Nature semblance to make some barriers and traps, and I can use that water to my advantage by using electricity. My target is gonna be Sean, so Maria, you’re with me on offense. Ashley, team up with Rika and provide cover fire.”

They all nodded, and the professor counted down. “ _ Three, two, one, begin! _ ”

Ashley and Rika dashed backward as Daniel and Maria sprinted toward Team JADE. Evan jumped backward into the water, thrusting his arms into it. The water swirled and rose until it was almost twelve feet tall and it looked like him. Darwin crushed a vial of Fire Dust in his hands and made a small fire tornado.

“Well, that’s not good,” Daniel grumbled. He formed an AK-47 and fired at Darwin, but glowing orange diamonds blocked the bullets. Sean darted behind Daniel and threw another diamond at his back. Daniel tried to dodge, but it grazed him a bit and took off a little Aura. Maria was using pulverized Ice Dust to extinguish Darwin’s fire attacks and Fire Dust to evaporate Evan’s water monster. Jax had left his teammates to go fight Ashley, who was protecting Rika as she planted some vine traps. He extended his boomerang into a bow and fired an Aura arrow, but she deflected it with Crossfire. He retracted the bow and approached Ashley and engaged in melee combat. Meanwhile, Daniel was fighting Sean on the pirate ship, who had unsheathed a smaller broadsword that had a yellow hilt and orange diamonds on the crossguards. The blade was also orange extending from the hilt to the middle, then silver everywhere else. Daniel formed Trusty Blaster and shot once under himself, propelling him up in the air, then shot again to blast himself down onto Sean, but he held up his sword to block and struck Daniel in the shoulder as he got back on solid ground. Daniel ducked under a swing and locked blades with him. “You’re holding your own pretty well.” 

“If by ‘pretty well’ you mean winning this fight, totally,” Sean remarked. “You haven’t hit me once since it started.”

Daniel smirked. “Well, that’s about to change.” He threw a crystal pike into the ground behind Sean and shot a bolt of lightning, traveling through it and swinging Vendetta backward as he struck Sean in the back, taking a chunk of his Aura. Sean made several more orange floating diamonds and shot them at Daniel, but he deflected all of them with Vendetta. 

At the same time, Maria was holding off Evan and Darwin with her Lightning dust, throwing it at Evan and electrocuting him and Darwin with the combination of the water he was controlling. She swung The Vindicator at Evan before he could summon another water monster and struck him in the shoulder, the force of the impact sending him into the base of a large tree trunk. Darwin got over his literal shock and locked his broadsword with Maria’s.

“A Dust control semblance, huh?” he asked. “That’s pretty handy. Evan and I only have access to one of those elements, but you have all of them.”

“Yes, it’s very handy,” she responded. “Especially since I know all of the element combinations.”

She grabbed a Fire and Ice Dust crystal and threw them both at the ground, creating a mist field around both of them. She focused a small amount of Aura into The Vindicator and swung it into his right side, draining his Aura down to sixty-one percent. Evan had managed to sneak up behind her, however, and whipped her from behind, dropping her Aura down from seventy-eight percent to seventy percent. Evan fired at her from close range and brought her Aura down another three percent. She tossed a Gravity Dust crystal at his feet and activated it, throwing him backward into a tree right next to Ashley and Jax. Jax shot an Aura arrow at Maria while she was fighting Darwin and hit her in the stomach as Ashley fired six bullets rapidly into his back. Rika activated a vine trap that held Evan down as he tried to reach for his gun-whip. Jax retracted his boomerang and threw it at Rika, but she rolled to the side and threw seeds at the ground, creating a wall of thistles.

Meanwhile, Daniel was still fighting with Sean as he threw more orange diamonds at him. Daniel ducked under two, let the other one stick into the wooden planks on the ground, and caught the last two in his hands. Sean grinned smugly and made the diamonds explode in his face, shrapnel grazing his cheeks but not cutting his skin thanks to his Aura, which was now at seventy-six as opposed to Sean’s seventy-seven.

“That was impressive,” Daniel admitted. “But you’re not the only one who can do that.” He formed several crystal pikes, threw them into the ground surrounding Sean, and made them explode, spreading crystal shards everywhere. Sean was hit by a few of them, but it didn’t do much damage to his Aura. Sean swung his broadsword downward on Vendetta, and their blades were locked for a few seconds. Daniel smirked and formed Trusty Blaster, firing once at Sean’s face. Sean smirked back and caused the diamond behind Daniel to explode, sending forward right into Sean’s raised knee as he kicked Daniel in the face and off the ship. Daniel fired the remaining shell of Trusty Blaster and propelled himself upwards onto the ship’s mast. He somersaulted off the mast and punched the ground, creating a massive energy pulse that knocked Sean off the ship and dealt a major blow to his Aura, draining it from seventy-seven percent to fifty-two percent. 

At the same time, Ashley was shooting rapidly at Jax while he was fighting with Rika. Maria and Darwin were now in the forest biome as well, and Maria was trying to get Evan out of the match, but Darwin kept on blocking her advances. Daniel had thrown Sean towards his teammates and met up with his as he shot lightning to separate Rika and Jax.

“What now, leader?” Rika asked.

“I think I have a plan,” Daniel said. “Rika, try to lure Darwin away from Evan. Maria, help Rika with some Earth Dust and get Evan out of the match before he manages to break out. Ashley, help me with Jax and Sean.”

“Got it,” they said in unison.

Daniel smirked. “Alright, let’s do this!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I kinda didn’t have enough time to write out the whole second part of the extra with Valerie and Nicole, but I’ll try to get it out next time!


	32. School's Out - Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a very action-packed one, so I hope you enjoy it!

**_Amity Colosseum._ **

**General POV.**

“Alright, let’s do this!”

Daniel and Ashley dashed towards Jax and Sean as Maria gave Rika an Earth Dust crystal. Crossfire clashed with Jax’s boomerang and Vendetta clashed with Sean’s broadsword as the sounds of battle rang throughout the arena. 

Rika kept Darwin at bay with her thistle barriers as Maria struck Evan with her broadsword. Unfortunately, the sword cut through the vines that held him down on the sand, and he grabbed his gun-whip to fire rapidly at her. His Aura was at eighteen percent and he was forced to be on the defensive as he kept Maria at a distance. 

Daniel formed a P90 submachine gun and rained down bullets on Sean, who kept making barriers with his light diamonds and dashing between trees. Ashley created a hand of shadows and slammed it down on the ground, making the area around her dark and blasting Jax out of the way. She made another shadow hand and grabbed Jax with it, slamming him against the grassy ground and draining his Aura by ten percent. Her Aura was also drained, however, as using that little trick costed her. Daniel threw Vendetta at Sean, who sidestepped it. Daniel predicted that, however, and traveled through the lightning bolt he shot at Vendetta, grabbed it midair, and swung it at Sean. Sean ducked under it, snatched it from Daniel, and delivered five swift punches to his gut. “You won’t fool me as you did with Jax.”

Daniel smirked. “You sure about that?”

Sean furrowed his brow, and Daniel shot lightning at Vendetta, shocking Sean and making him drop it. Daniel leg swept him and kicked him towards Ashley, who used her shadows to slam him onto the ground. Jax came from behind Daniel and threw a kick, but he blocked it with his crystals greaves. They engaged in hand-to-hand combat for a while, and Jax was doing a number on Daniel’s Aura.

Meanwhile, Evan was trying his damndest to keep away from Maria, but she was getting closer to knocking him out of the match. Rika was fighting with Darwin next to the pirate ship, whose water attacks were not doing much against her. They were now engaged in melee combat, broadsword against staff. She twirled Mother Nature around and thrust the knife end at him, grazing his arm. Darwin spun around and struck her in the stomach. She stumbled backward as Darwin delivered a heavy blow to her side and the buzzer rang, her Aura at ten percent.

“Rika!” Maria exclaimed.

“Dammit!” Daniel cursed.

With Rika out of the way, Darwin joined Evan in attacking Maria, and suddenly it was much harder for her to get a hit in, so she had to keep them away from her using her Dust. Ashley was occupied with Sean in the forest, who seemed to be matching her in speed and agility. Daniel was still fighting Jax hand-to-hand and decided he needed to end this as soon as possible. He formed his Lightning Saber, ducked under a punch thrown by Jax, and swung the saber through him, paralyzing him. It didn’t last long, only three seconds, but it was enough to form and charge Trusty Blaster and shoot him twice in the face, taking off a sizable portion of his Aura and sending him into a tree trunk. Daniel chucked a pike over to Maria and tried to shoot lightning to travel through, but Jax tackled him and threw off his aim. Daniel discharged an electric shock and pushed him off, spotting the crystal pike and traveling through the lightning he shot at it. He popped up next to Evan and threw an electrically charged punch at him, draining the last three percent needed for the buzzer to ring. He turned to Darwin, formed another Lightning saber and connected the two, and swung his saber through him, paralyzing him for a little longer than Jax. Maria saw her opening and struck Darwin with The Vindicator. His Aura dropped down to twenty-one percent, but then Daniel looked over to the forest and saw Ashley struggling to fight Sean and Jax. Her Aura was at nineteen percent, while Sean was at thirty-three and Jax was at twenty-nine. Daniel checked the Aura levels on the holo-screen.  _ I’m at thirty. This is gonna be close. _ He gritted his teeth and dashed over to her, but Sean struck her again with his broadsword.  _ Seventeen percent and dropping. _ He reached her just in time to block Sean’s sword with his new Double Lightning Saber, pushing it backward with all his strength. “Go help Maria!” She nodded and dashed through a shadow, materializing over near the pirate ship.

Jax grinned. “Two against one, and we both have more Aura combined. Whatcha gonna do?”

Daniel gave his signature smirk. “What I always do. Cut it down to the wire.” He backflipped onto a branch, forming a crystal bow and a charged arrow, shooting it at the ground and discharging electricity. They both rolled separate ways and Daniel focused on Jax, throwing the double saber. He deflected it with his boomerang, and Daniel shot a bolt of lightning at it, traveling through and firing another arrow mid-air, striking Jax in the shoulder. The sound of a buzzer distracted him, and he saw that Ashley had been knocked out of the fight by Darwin.  _ Fuck! _ He landed with a roll and delivered two punches to Jax in rapid succession, only to be hit by another light diamond. A buzzer rang along with an explosion as Maria had gathered a plethora of Fire Dust and ignited it, knocking and Darwin out of the match.  _ She must’ve miscalculated how much Dust she needed, or she had no other options,  _ Daniel thought. He could feel his Aura getting low, but theirs were too, and he had one last trick up his sleeve. He shattered his Lightning Saber and channeled the remaining static electricity absorbed over the whole match into a small ball that glowed brightly with energy. It drained a small amount of his strength, but right now it was all or nothing. He formed Vendetta with a hole right above the hilt, just big enough for the ball. He put it in and spun Vendetta around, ready for another fight. “If I’m going down, I’m going down with a bang.”

Jax and Sean clenched their weapons and charged him. Daniel focused on defense, dodging and rolling away from their attacks.  _ Not yet. _ He deflected three Aura arrows that Jax shot from his bow and dodged three light diamonds from Sean.  _ Still not yet. _ They both swung their weapons at Daniel, engaged in a three-way blade lock.  _ Almost! _ He pushed them away and ran up to Sean, jumping onto his raised blade and pushing himself off as if it was a springboard. He glanced at the Aura levels, Jax was at twenty, Sean was at twenty-one, and he was at nineteen.  _ Now! _ He twisted himself in the air and threw Vendetta at the ground right between Jax and Sean, and as Vendetta was plunged into the ground, it discharged a huge wave of electricity, shocking them both and draining their Aura below the threshold. Daniel landed on the ground, his blue Aura crackling. Two buzzers were heard, and he checked the holo-screen as the crowd went silent. 

Jax: 13%

Sean: 10%

Daniel: 16%

_ We won. _

The crowd went crazy and burst into cheers as Professor Port’s voice boomed over the speakers.  _ “And with an astounding performance by Daniel Springs, Team DAMN wins by a hair!” _

_ That was crazy, _ Goliath said in Daniel’s head.  _ You somehow manage to think of the craziest plans that actually work. _

_ To be honest, I was certain it would drain my Aura before theirs, _ Daniel responded

_ Well, you won the match. Go meet up with your friends and celebrate, they’ve certainly earned it. _

  
  


Daniel smirked and nodded slightly. “I will.”

* * *

Teams DAMN and JASN were wandering around the fairgrounds aimlessly, just talking to each other.

“That was  _ awesome! _ ” John shouted. “You absolutely came in clutch right there!”

Rika grinned. “You won for us!”

Daniel shrugged. “I wouldn’t say I won  _ for _ you, you all certainly did a lot. I should’ve kept an eye on the Aura levels, though.”

“Nonsense, we were all caught up in the battles around us,” Maria said. “We all should have monitored them ourselves. Besides, you came up with a great plan that ultimately turned the tides.”

“I knew they were strong, but not  _ that  _ strong,” Ashley said. 

“Especially Sean, he really gave you a run for your money,” Valerie agreed.

Daniel nodded. “My test has been concluded, Sean is worthy of Jax.”

They all laughed and Daniel pointed to a nearby food stall. “Let’s get a bite to eat, on me!”

They all cheered and ran over to the stall. Unbeknownst to them, Sarah was watching them from a portal created by Dakota, behind a gift shop. She ducked out and turned to Samantha. “They’ll be occupied for a while, the plan should be set.”

She smiled mischievously. “Good. Let’s report to Cinder.”

* * *

Here’s the second part of the extra from chapter 30! Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

**_Beacon Academy, training room._ **

**General POV.**

Valerie and Nicole arrived at the amphitheater, where they were about to test out Nicole’s new sword, courtesy of Daniel. Valerie pulled Nicole up to the arena and clapped her hands. “Are you ready?”

“Hold on, I have to take a minute to  _ breathe _ since you dragged me all the way here!” Nicole shouted. “You know, you could have just walked like a normal person!”

“Aw, but that’s no fun!” Valerie grinned. 

“So you think dragging someone around is fun?” Nicole asked.

Valerie giggled. “It’s not my fault you’re a slowpoke!”

“Whatever, let’s just get started.” Nicole gripped her sword and assumed a strange stance. Valerie gave her a weird look. “What?”

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Nicole blinked. “What do you mean? I’m getting ready to fight.”

Valerie frowned. “Not like that, you’re not. Here, let me help you.” She walked over to Nicole. “Are you gonna use both hands?”

“No, this sword feels like I only need one,” she said.

“Alright, then you’ll want to take a stance like this.” Valerie grabbed her right arm, where the sword was and bent her elbow so the blade was pointing forward and her arm was behind her. “Then you should put your feet like this.” She grabbed Nicole’s right thigh and shifted her leg back a little, then separated her knees and feet so she was steady. “There, that’s a better stance.”

Nicole blushed. “A-alright, you can let go now, I get it.”

Valerie smirked and took this opportunity to tease her a little. “Aww, is someone getting embarrassed?”

She blushed harder. “No, shut up.”

“You’re blushing!~” Valerie said in a sing-song voice.

She turned away and pulled the strings on her red hoodie. “J-just go over to your space now!”

Valerie giggled. “Alright, alright. Now that you’ve got a good stance, let’s practice.” She hoisted The Revealer onto her shoulder and took her own stance. “Do you know the basics of melee combat?”

She shrugged. “I know enough to get by, but that’s not enough for me.”

“‘Kay, then let’s try basic fighting.” Valerie crouched down and dashed toward Nicole, swinging The Revealer downward. Nicole sidestepped and clumsily swung her sword at Valerie’s hip. Valerie turned and blocked the strike with her blade, twisting it to throw off Nicole’s following parry. She pointed her sword at Nicole’s neck, and she raised her hands in defeat. Valerie furrowed her brow. “You have to be able to predict your opponent’s moves and be sure that you can land a hit. Otherwise, stay on the defensive. Also, your sword swings could use some work. If you need to, you can use both hands when swinging.”

Nicole nodded. “Let’s go again.”

“Alright, if you say so. I’ll let you take the first shot.” Valerie smiled. She walked back to her starting area and readied The Revealer again. “Ready?”

Nicole assumed her stance. “Ready.”

Valerie smirked. “Then begin!”

Nicole dashed towards Valerie and made sure to use her semblance as she swung her sword horizontally at her. Valerie sidestepped to the left, but Nicole knew she would do that and so she spun around and hit Valerie with the sword. Valerie fell back and caught herself on her hands, doing a backflip to right herself. She swung The Revealer at Nicole, but she ducked under it and attempted to strike Valerie in the shoulder. Her blade passed through, however, and Valerie jumped back with a short blast from the Fire Dust in The Revealer. “Guess I don’t need to go easy when you can read my mind.” She swung Ice Dust in Nicole’s direction, but Nicole just sprinted around her and hit her right side. Valerie jumped back and swung Fire Dust, but Nicole zig-zagged through it, using her Aura to shield her from the burns. She emerged from the Dust cloud and pointed her sword to Valerie’s neck, and Valerie raised her hands in defeat. Nicole smirked. “Shouldn’t have let me take the first shot.”

Valerie smiled. “Good job, Nicole! Keep training like this and you’ll be a prodigy in no time!”

Nicole lowered her sword. “Thanks, but let’s keep training for a little while longer. I’m getting the hang of this now.”

She laughed. “Alright, round three it is!”

They continued sparring with each other for another hour, and they were panting and glistening with sweat by the time they were done. Nicole had taken off her red hoodie since her t-shirt was much breezier. Valerie wiped the sweat off her forehead and fanned herself with the collar of her shirt. “I think we’ve been going at it long enough. Wanna go get something to eat?”

Nicole nodded. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

They left the amphitheater, where John would later joke about what had them so sweaty and flustered. He would later face the wrath of Nicole when he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting into the good part now! As always, hope you enjoyed and leave a comment telling me what you think about the story so far!


	33. School's Out - Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the doubles fight rounds, I’m not gonna write out all of them, not even for Teams DAMN or JASN. I don’t want this to drag on, and shit’s finally getting real. It’ll be partial scenes, just like when Penny and Ciel’s fight ended as the episode started. I’m still gonna make up some fake teams, though!

**_In a certain dorm room…_ **

**General POV.**

Teams RAJR and JJCN minus Nick, Emerald, Mercury, and Cinder were sitting in the dorm room, waiting for the next match. “Alright, so let’s review the plan, from the top,” Joe said. “In the singles, Cinder matches up Yang Xiao Long with Mercury, and when she wins, Emerald will make it look like he’s gonna attack her, but really, she just punched his leg without provocation?”

“Exactly,” Cinder smiled. “Team RWBY will be disqualified for misconduct, and none the wiser to any of this.”

“Okay,” Sarah said. “And then, we match up Pyrrha Nikos with the robot girl, Penny Polendina and Emerald will make Pyrrha think that she’s fighting for her life, effectively killing Penny.”

Emerald nodded. “That’s the goal.”

“And then after that,” Julia continued. “The Grimm will storm Beacon, giving us a window for Dakota to portal Cinder to the Fall Maiden.”

Mercury gave a thumbs up. “And then we’re outta here.”

“What about Daniel Springs and his group of friends?” Samantha asked. “They’re going to be a big problem, especially now that Daniel has some sort of transformation that makes him stronger, even if he can’t control it.”

“That’s where you come in,” Cinder said. “If they’re as much of a problem as you say they are, you four will have to keep them occupied with the assistance of the Grimm, while we break in. Once I get my rightful power, it’s smooth sailing from there.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dakota smirked maliciously.

They heard Professor Port’s voice booming over the speakers. “ _ Would John Hawkin and Nicole Annorose please report to the battlegrounds?” _

Mercury smiled slyly. “Looks like it’s showtime.”

* * *

**_Amity Colosseum._ **

**General POV.**

John dashed out from inside a building and whacking his opponent with Wildfire and sending her over to the lava biome. He and Nicole were fighting against Marshal and Olive of Team MRON (Maroon.) Olive’s weapons were a silver halberd and a flintlock pistol, and her semblance was Recall, which allowed her to teleport back to the place she was at up to five seconds ago, although there is some sort of a cooldown. Nicole was rapidly firing at Marshal with Big Bang in its assault rifle form, but he dodged all of them by turning invisible and running around the Anti-Gravity biome with his rapier. He reappeared on the side of a wall, and Nicole shot a sniper round at a pillar, and at an angle where the gravity adjusted its trajectory and hit Marshall square in the face. The buzzer rang, and Nicole rushed over to John, who was doing his best against someone who could essentially rewind time for herself. They both nodded to each other, and Nicole fired a round into her chest and John ran up to her, igniting his hands and pushing her out of the arena with an explosion. The last buzzer rang and the crowd cheered.

“ _ Team JASN wins the doubles round against Team MRON! _ ” Professor Port announced.

John exhaled and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “That was rough.”

“Tell me about it,” Nicole said as she put away Big Bang. “I really need a sword.”

John looked at her. “You could put a knife at the end of the barrel like a bayonet, sorta like Nick’s warhammer-rifle thing.”

She shook her head as they walked out of the arena. “I’m much better with a sword, not a spear.”

John shrugged. “Then we’ll get you one, but after the tournament. Team JASN is on a roll!”

They walked back to Valerie and Neon and they cheered. “Good job guys! Only one more round to go!”

“Yeah, hopefully, if Daniel wins his match, we can kick his ass,” John said. 

Nicole snickered. “That’d be something. Come on, let’s go find them.”

They left Amity Colosseum and wandered the halls of Beacon’s main building looking for Team DAMN when John overhead students talking in hushed voices down the hall to his right. He stopped in his tracks and motioned for the rest to halt as well. He hid behind a wall and listened intently with his fox ears.

“...So then, what’s the closest place you can portal to the vault?” he heard Audrey ask.

“I think I can go to the elevator that leads down there,” Dakota said. “But I don’t exactly think we can afford to take a tour of the place before we’re spotted.”

John looked at Nicole, and she linked their minds together, so they could hear what John was hearing.

“Maybe if we use Audrey’s super-speed?” Sarah suggested.

“No, there are probably cameras surrounding it,” Samantha said. “Maybe we can ask Dad to steal some sort of invisibility semblance.”

John’s eyes widened, and he turned to his team.  _ What are they planning?! _

“That’s a good idea, but let’s not discuss it here,” Cole said. “You never know who might be listening through the walls, and we can’t afford to blow this.”

John heard them walking in their direction, and he motioned for his teammates to go back.  _ They’re coming! Scramble! _

Valerie nodded.  _ I’ll go find Team DAMN! We’ll meet up in our dorm room! _ She turned around and phased through a wall. John, Neon, and Nicole ran back quietly and turned down a hall to stay out of sight from Samantha and her friends. They waited until John heard them pass by out of earshot, then he ran the other way to meet up with Valerie.

* * *

Team DAMN had just left their dorm room to go back to Amity Colosseum when Valerie came running over to them.

“Hey, Val, Whatcha up to?” Rika asked.

She looked at the team and put on a serious face. “You guys won’t believe what my team and I just overheard. They should be coming here in a bit, we’ll explain when they do.”

They nodded and went back into the dorm room, Valerie right behind them. Only a few minutes after, the rest of Team JASN arrived at their dorm room. John knocked on the door only for it to be opened immediately by Daniel, who demanded answers. “What’s going on?”   
  


John took a deep breath. “We heard Team RAJR, Dakota, Joe, and Cole talking about infiltrating some… vault in the school.”

“What?” Daniel exclaimed.

“Yeah, they were talking about how Dakota was gonna try to portal them in,” Nicole said. “I don’t know what they’re going for, but I have a feeling something bad is gonna happen after the festival.”

Daniel knit his eyebrows. “What should we do? I don’t think they’ve been watching the tournament at all, so chances are they’re hidden and biding their time.”

“Well, I don’t think they’ll get past the security, so we could just let the teachers handle it,” Maria said. “As it stands, there’s no real proof that they said that. No one would believe us.”

“I agree with Maria,” Ashley said. “I think we should just wait it out, at least until after the festival.”

Daniel sighed. “Okay, if that’s what you think we should do, we’ll do it. But we’re still gonna keep an eye on them discreetly.”

Valerie pumped her fist. “It’s like we’re on a secret mission! So cool!”

Rika jumped up and down. “Ooh, do we get codenames?”

Maria facepalmed. “Rika, we’re trying to be  _ discreet. _ ”

Daniel nodded. “Alright, we should probably go back to the colosseum, our fight’s gonna start soon.”

They all agreed and left the dorm room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized something, and I’m here to clear it up. When I say Daniel formed a crystal pike, like the ones he uses when he needs a conductor to travel through, I mean those little things that hold down a tent—I found it’s called a peg or stake—not the long weapon that you find on Google Images. This chapter’s a bit shorter, but I’m sure the next one will be longer. School’s a pain.


	34. School's Out - Part 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this is a long note. I really hope you take the time to read it, as it has important information.  
> Regarding the “Spanish” that Daniel and John can speak, I realized a while ago that real-world continents don’t exist in Remnant. However, I could lay it off as Patch being an island that has its own language that would be like Spanish for Remnant—like the Dominican Republic. Only in certain parts do they speak it, Daniel and John just happened to live there. I’m gonna go back and revise the third chapter’s ending and fourth chapter’s notes. And everything else that has the word ‘Spanish.’  
> In the singles round, some of the obscure characters you see in its roster will be replaced with the candidates from Teams JASN and DAMN, for plot purposes—even though the finals won’t actually play out.   
> Oops, looks like I forgot to describe those extra characters for Team MRON. I guess it doesn’t matter since they’re only temporary characters.  
> Lastly, every time I read the location/POV part of the chapter in my mind, I hear the sound of the text when you vote someone out in Among Us. It’s honestly kinda funny.

**_Amity Colosseum._ **

**General POV.**

Daniel zig-zagged his way around the geysers, dodging a hail of bullets from behind him. He vaulted over jagged rock and hid in a sand dune, digging around to make a trench. Rika dashed over and hid with him, planting thistle traps around them. “What’s the plan?”

Daniel thought for a second. “Do you know how to use a rifle?”

She nodded. “I trained with a bunch of weapons.”

“Alright, I’m gonna make us both some SCAR-L assault rifles and we’ll shoot them from over here,” Daniel said. He formed two rifles and gave one to her. He also made five magazines for her. “Since you can’t make more ammo like me, just reload it like it’s a normal gun.”

She gave a thumbs up and smiled. “You got it!”

For the doubles round, Daniel and Rika were going up against Aaron and Eliza from Team AZRE (Azure). Aaron was wearing a camouflage parka with swamp green trousers, had tanned skin, sky blue hair in a side sweep and red eyes, used twin Uzi machine pistols, and his semblance was Seismic Shift, the ability to manipulate metals, rocks, and everything else in the ground. Eliza was wearing a black karate gi, had flowing lavender hair and eyes, used shurikens and throwing knives, and her semblance was Suppression, which means she could mute any sound she made, directly or indirectly, and sneak up on even the keenest of ears.

Daniel peeked out from the trench and fired at Aaron, hitting him twice in the chest. He dashed out of the Desert biome, Rika following behind and providing cover fire. They hid inside a building in the Urban biome and Rika hooked the gun on her waist when Eliza appeared from nowhere and punched Daniel in the face. Rika engaged in hand-to-hand combat with her, but she was more skilled and brought Rika down in a matter of seconds. Daniel recovered from the punch, formed Trusty Blaster, and fired twice, the force of the tiny shards depleting her already diminished Aura to eleven percent and ringing the buzzer. Aaron put his hands to the ground and the ground trembled as the building threatened to collapse on Daniel and Rika. They ran out of there and met Aaron with blades. Rika took out the gun and fired at him as Daniel slashed repeatedly and hit him on the head with Vendetta. Rika dashed forward and whacked him with Mother Nature, depleting his Aura and securing their victory.

“ _ What a swift turn of events! _ ” Dr. Oobleck announced. “ _ Team DAMN will advance to the singles round! _ ”

“We did it!” Rika exclaimed, jumping up and down. 

“High five!” Daniel held his hand up and high-fived her with both hands. “Just two more rounds and we can win this thing!”

“Let’s go back to the others!” Rika suggested.

They met up with the rest of their friends in the waiting lobby. John gave a thumbs up. “That was some pretty good fighting, you two.”

Rika ran up to Maria and bounced with excitement. “Maria! Maria! Did you see me knock him out?”

Maria smiled. “Yes, I did. That was great.”

“Who are we sending into the final round?” Neon asked.

John jabbed a thumb into his chest. “I think we all know it should be me. I’ve got the heavy attacks, melee  _ and _ ranged.”

“I also think Daniel should go,” Rika said. “He’s been doing great this whole time!”

Ashley looked at Daniel. “Don’t try to show off and screw this up, will you?”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “I won’t, I promise. I’ll be fighting for real!”

* * *

**Daniel’s POV; third person.**

“ _ Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for! _ ” Professor Port announced. “ _ The one-on-one finals! _ ”

Eight people were standing next to each other in the center of the arena, all of the contestants for the finals. Besides John, there were only a few people that Daniel knew, which were Yang, Sun, Penny, Mercury—only in passing—and Pyrrha. 

“ _ Barty, why don’t you explain the rules? _ ” Port asked.

“ _ Ah, it’s quite simple, Peter, _ ” Dr. Oobleck began. “ _ Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place! _ ”

“ _ Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare, _ ” Port said.

“ _ Ah, yes, yes, _ ” Dr. Oobleck agreed. “ _ Now let’s see who our first match will be! _ ”

The holograms above the contestants starting spinning like slot machines, until they finally landed on Yang and Mercury.

“ _ Yang Xiao Long and Mercury Black! _ ” Port announced. “ _ Would all other combatants please leave the stage? _ ”

Everyone looked at each other, then to Yang and Mercury, and then they made their way out of the arena just as the stage started shifting and the middle platform rose into the air. John and Daniel dashed over to where their teammates were sitting, weaving through students and turning down corners, and finally making it right before the countdown.  _ “Three… two… one… FIGHT!” _

The match started with quite a bang, with Yang and Mercury throwing punches and kicks and dodging the other’s attacks. Yang really knew how to put those gauntlets to good use, and Mercury had some strange guns in his boots that allowed him to shoot some white projectile. There are also several instances where the ground was cracked by the force of their attacks. Yang eventually uppercuts him in the jaw and shoots him in the stomach, sending him backward. As he got back up, she started rapidly firing rounds from her gauntlets, forcing Mercury to backflip and dodge. One of them hits him and sends him off the edge, but he used those strange guns to propel himself back up. He engaged in a flurry of kicks, sending her back with one more and shooting a white projectile at her. She dodged it, and he created a sort of tornado of projectiles. Yang saw what he was trying to do and tried to attack him, but he slammed her into the ground with a kick and the torrent of projectiles came crashing down on her. 

“Hot  _ damn _ !” John exclaimed. “This is a great battle!”

“I know, right?!” Rika yelled. “It’s so exciting!”

He walked away smugly and dusted himself off, thinking he was done, but then Yang literally exploded, setting the edges of the arena on fire briefly. She dashed at him, throwing punches and gauntlet shots left and right, finally uppercutting him in the stomach and making his Aura flicker. He was crouched on one knee before she punched his face and the buzzer sounded. 

_ “What a way to kick off the finals!”  _ Port boomed as the platform descended.

_ “Yang Xiao Long wins!” _ Oobleck announced.

“That was awesome!” Nicole yelled.   
  


Everyone’s celebration was cut short, however, when Yang suddenly turned around and shot her gauntlet into Mercury’s leg, making him scream out in pain. Everyone started booing and shouting angrily.

“What in the bloody hell?!” Maria yelled. “What happened?!”

“She just punched him out of nowhere!” Neon cried. “Why would she do that?”

Atlas soldiers surrounded her, pointing their guns at her. “Yang Xiao Long, stand down!”

Emerald rushed over to Mercury, who was crying out in pain. “Why’d she do that?! Why’d she attack me?!”

Yang looked confused as to why she was being detained, when she saw the instant replay on the screen, showing her what she had just done. Emerald was looking around frantically as the medics came out with a stretcher.

“Can you do something?!” she pleaded.

One medic looked at the other. “We need to get this boy to a hospital.” They carried him out and she followed them.

Yang watched them leave and turned to the soldiers. “You don’t understand, he attacked me first, I swear!”

“Stow it!” One of the soldiers said. “You’ve already caused enough of a scene.”

Yang just stood there as everyone kept booing.

* * *

After the whole ordeal, the next singles round was postponed, so Teams DAMN and JASN went back to DAMN’s dorm room. John sighed. “It’s everywhere. All of the news channels are talking about it. I think I even saw some soldiers guarding their dorm room entrance.”

Neon shifted in place. “And the worst part is, the Grimm activity is increasing.”

_ I think something bigger is going on here, _ Goliath said. 

_ I know, _ Daniel agreed.  _ But we don’t know what. _

Ashley shook her head. “This is bad.” She looked over to Daniel. “You okay?”

Daniel looked over to her. “Yeah, just talking with Goliath, and something’s not right. I don’t think Yang would just punch someone after a fight. At least, not like that.”

“What if this is part of the plan Samantha and her friends were talking about?” Rika asked. “What if it was a distraction?”

“Even if it was,” Maria started. “I don’t see how they could make Yang punch an innocent student.”

Valerie sighed. “What are we supposed to do now? I don’t think waiting is a good idea.”

“Well, what do you suggest we do?” Nicole asked. “Walk up to them and ask ‘Hey, are you planning something evil?’”

“Maybe we could,” Daniel said. Everyone looked at him, so he explained further. “If Nicole can read minds, she could try to find out what they’re up to without them knowing.”

“I doubt it,” Valerie shook her head. “We’d just be suspicious, and that’s not what we want. If whatever they’re gonna pull is after the tournament, we’ll just stop them before it ends. But we’ll have to wait until then.”

John sighed. “I guess we don’t have a choice.”

* * *

**_Meanwhile…_ **

“It worked,” Julia smirked.

“ _ Yes it did, _ ” Cinder said over the scroll. “ _ Quite smoothly, I will say. _ ”

“What do we do now?” Sarah asked.

“ _ For now, just sit tight and wait for orders, _ ” she smiled. “ _ We’ll be back soon. _ ”

She hung up, and Teams RAJR and JJCN sat on the beds in silence.

…

A  _ long _ silence.

“So…” Joe started. “What do we do?”

“I… don’t know,” Dakota said.

Cole piped up. “You guys wanna get some grub?”

Everyone looked at him like an idiot, but then their stomachs rumbled. Audrey shrugged. “Yeah, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have something very important to say.  
> There will not be a chapter next Sunday, because I need to take some time to plan out how this is gonna go. It shouldn’t go past this Sunday, I’ll make sure of it. I just usually dive in headfirst into the chapter I make, but I want this to go smoothly. I’m going to make it as long as I possibly can, as this is where things go to shit in RWBY. Sorry to leave off on such a cliffhanger.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	35. School's Out - Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One. Thousand. Hits.  
> I can’t believe I got 1000 hits on this story.  
> And I hit that milestone right before 2021.  
> You guys can’t imagine how happy it made me to wake up and see the big 1k on this story. The idea for this story literally just popped into my head because I was thinking about what it would be like to play Hide and Seek in Beacon Academy, and then I was like ‘Hold on, what if my characters were in the RWBY universe?’ I’m constantly thinking of different story ideas, especially when listening to music while doing chores. I was just washing some dishes one day when I was like, ‘I know how I can make a story like that! I just have to find out where to start!’ and so it literally popped into my mind with the flow of the music.   
> All of these O.C.’s that I have, I’ve had them since way before I made this, but Nick was the exception, because originally Dakota, Joe, and Cole were supposed to be a trio, but I needed a four-person team, so I created a new character basically on the spot.  
> Valerie is also an exception because she hasn’t been around as long as the others. She literally came from a strange dream that I had at the beginning of 2020—that I can still remember—but she had pink hair, and since Neon already has pink hair, I changed it to indigo. I don’t actually like her hairstyle in the Instagram post I made a while back, but the closest hairstyle you can get to how I imagine her hairstyle is this image: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/23/8d/da/238dda59acce01b07a50c701134cd304.jpg&imgrefurl=https://www.pinterest.ru/pin/477029785515878778/&h=400&w=400&tbnid=p5Kqoc7OJt3kIM&tbnh=225&tbnw=225&usg=AI4_-kTL_fb-p26we6fs2_nNcknYyLqp8g&vet=1&docid=pnVolq4HJthHPM  
> Or:  
> https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/910157763643676437/4089B27D6B0772D40ECFE2DC4D2FADF72B6E9DAE/?imw%3D637%26imh%3D358%26ima%3Dfit%26impolicy%3DLetterbox%26imcolor%3D%2523000000%26letterbox%3Dtrue&imgrefurl=https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id%3D1261617768&h=358&w=637&tbnid=83F5NC8f5tFCiM&tbnh=168&tbnw=300&usg=AI4_-kRqqvRFKTZkkfNwyDR6u3BnGeVNVg&vet=1&docid=B2z_s9SUWNJ1mM  
> Oof, sorry for the huge wall of text. I’ll guess I’ll cut the note short.
> 
> Thank you for 1,000 hits!

**_Amity Colosseum._ **

**Daniel’s POV; third person.**

Daniel and his friends sat down in the stands, waiting for the next match to start. They were all excited despite the threat of whatever Teams RAJR and JJCN were planning, but like hell they were gonna let them get in the way of enjoying the tournament. The one thing that made them all wary, however, was that the aforementioned teams were nowhere to be found, and that made Daniel antsy. 

“I can’t see them anywhere,” Daniel said. “I know it would be hard to spot anyone, but they kinda stand out with the colors of their hair, the jewelry, and shit, and I can always spot them in a crowd. But I can’t find that glimmer now.”

“Something’s not right,” Ashley said. “Weren’t they here before? For the last few matches?”

“Wait a minute, that’s the problem,” John suddenly realized. “They were only here for the first match. After that, they never appeared again.” John looked at everyone. “This isn’t good. Their plan might be more calculated than we originally thought.”

Before the match began, Daniel excused himself. “I need to go to the bathroom, I’ll be back in a minute.”

John grabbed his arm and looked at him sternly. “No, you don’t. I know that tone, and it usually means you’re going off to find trouble.”

Daniel scowled. “Well, I need to find out what they’re gonna do. I can’t just sit here and wait for something bad to happen.”

“Well, you’re not going alone,” Ashley spoke up. 

“This should be  _ my _ fight,” he said. “I’ve known them for longer than any of you.”

She shook her head. “There’s no ‘ _ I’ _ in ‘Team’. We’re a team, and we fight each other’s fights together.”

Rika smiled. “Yeah! If you go, we go!”

“You’re too irresponsible to go stop them by yourself,” John said. “We need to make sure you don’t get yourself killed.”

“I’ll go with you guys,” Valerie stood up. “My semblance will be useful.”

“John and I will stay here in case they show up,” Maria said. “You guys can go on ahead.”

John nodded. “We’ll handle it here!”

_ You have good friends, _ Goliath said.  _ Make sure to tell them that more often. _

_ I know. _ Daniel sighed, then smirked. “All right, if you guys insist. You’re all really good friends.”

Nicole smiled and stood up. “I’ll link our minds together so we can split up and keep in touch. Something tells me our scrolls won’t be of much help when they find us.” She held out her hands and linked us together, allowing us to read each other’s thoughts.

Daniel nodded. “Alright, girls, let’s move.”

He, Ashley, Rika, Neon, Nicole, and Valerie walked out of the stands and toward a hallway when they saw Ruby sneaking down that same hallway and through a door. Valerie tilted her head. “Should we follow her?”

“Yeah,” Daniel said. “Rika, Neon, you two should follow Ruby. But first, let’s see who’s fighting in the tournament.” They both nodded and Daniel turned back to Valerie. “Keep the tournament playing on your scroll. I wanna see if anything happens while we’re gone.”

She nodded and brought out her scroll, turning on the broadcast. The randomization process had started.  _ “It looks like our first contender is… Penny Polendina from Atlas!”  _ Port announced.

“Oh, she’s that strange girl from the docks!” Rika said. 

_ “And her opponent will be… Pyrrha Nikos from Beacon!”  _

“What do we do now?” Ashley asked.    
  


Daniel shrugged. “Let’s wait and see what happens while Rika and Neon--”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as he heard the sounds of battle on the other side of the door. They immediately burst through the door and found Mercury fighting Ruby, who was on the floor. She pulled out her scroll, but Mercury shot it with his perfectly working legs. “Let’s just keep this between us friends.” He glanced at us from the corner of his eye and sighed. “Or not. Whatever.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on here? Didn’t Yang break your legs?”

Joe and Cole walked out from a door further down the hallway and Cole spotted Mercury. “Mercury, Cinder said she-- What’s going on? They’re not supposed to be here.”

Mercury shrugged. “Just a little hiccup, nothing we can’t take care of.”

“Mercury, they’re the teams Samantha was talking about,” Joe said. “The wolf faunus right there is Daniel Springs!”

Mercury’s eyebrows raised. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

Daniel looked back to Valerie. “Keep the broadcast playing! And turn up the volume!” She nodded and raised the volume on her scroll to the highest setting and put it in her pocket. He used Nicole’s mind link to get through to John and Maria.  _ We found Mercury back here, and Joe and Cole are working with him. Be careful over there, things might get rough.  _ He looked back to Mercury, and now Joe and Cole. “What are you planning?”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Soon, it won’t matter to you. It’s already too late.”

Joe laughed. “That’s right. The train is already moving! There’s nothing you can do to stop what comes next. It should be happening any second now!”

Ruby ran past us and back into the stands, while Valerie pulled out her scroll. Her eyes widened and she almost dropped the scroll. “Oh my god.”

_ HOLY FUCKING SHIT! _ John screamed into our minds.  _ PYRRHA JUST CUT PENNY IN HALF! AND THERE’S NO BLOOD! _

Daniel immediately dashed after Ruby, along with the other girls, where they found Penny in three different pieces on the arena floor, and when they saw the wires and circuit boards inside of her, Nicole’s jaw went slack, Ashley froze up, and Rika had unshed tears in her eyes. “W-what happened?”

“She’s… a robot?” Neon asked.

Suddenly, there was loud static noise, and all of the holo-screens trend red with an icon resembling a queen piece of a chess set. 

“ _ This… is not a tragedy, _ ” a female voice spoke. “ _ This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians. But are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our academies’ headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet… what do we have here? One nation’s attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another’s star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don’t think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First, a dismemberment, now this? Huntsman and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as if defeating Atlas in the tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps, this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven’t the slightest clue as to wrong is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdom conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you, the situation there is… equally undesirable. Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark! So, I ask you; when the first shots are fired… who do  _ you _ think you can trust?” _

The screens went back to static noise and then sirens started blaring.  _ “Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level; nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner. _ ”

Everyone started screaming and running for their lives. John and Maria ran over to their teammates and John clenched his fists. “I hate when people do that! You know Grimm are gonna come if you panic, so why don’t you just listen?!”

“ _ Ladies and gentlemen, please, _ ” General Ironwood said over the speakers. “ _ There is no need for panic-- _ ”

He was quickly proven wrong as a Nevermore came down on the arena’s Hard-Light barrier, trying to break through. Nicole shook her head. “That went out the window.”

“What are we gonna do?” Neon asked. 

“I don’t know,” Ashley said. “But we need to figure it out fast!” The Nevermore let out a particularly loud screech and started circling the arena. “I don’t think the barriers are equipped the handle that much force!”

“Jaune’s running towards Pyrrha!” Rika shouted.

The Nevermore rose up and nosedived straight through the barrier, hitting the ground and pushing Jaune and Pyrrha away with the force of the impact. It ran towards them both, but it was pushed back by Ruby using her semblance to stab one of Penny’s swords into its leg. It screeched in pain as Ruby moved back to protect Pyrrha. “LEAVE HER ALONE!”

“Call your lockers!” Maria yelled.

The Nevermore screeched again and circled the arena, heading right for them, when a barrage of lockers came crashing down on it, pinning it down. Team JNPR, SSSN, ABRN, FNKI, and CFVY walked on the Nevermore and grabbed their weapons from the lockers, along with Team JASN and DAMN. The Nevermore started moving again, though, throwing off everyone’s balance. Everyone else worked together to kill it, with Yatsuhashi and Sage delivering the finishing blow to its head and dissolving it into nothing more than dust.

“Ruby, I…” Pyrrha began. She fiddled with a piece of Penny’s skirt. “I’m so sorry.”

Ruby looked at her. “Me too. But it wasn’t your fault.”

“She’s right.” Jaune walked over to her, holding her weapons,  Miló and Akoúo̱. “Whoever was on the microphone, they’re the ones who did this.” He handed her weapons back to her. “And we have to make sure they don’t take anyone else.”

Suddenly, a roar was heard from above, and a flock of Griffons landed on the top of the arena.

“Anybody got a plan of attack?” Neptune asked.

“Sun!” Ruby called out. “I need your scroll.” He grabbed his scroll with his tail and flung it at her. She caught it and hit a button that sent her locker down into the arena. Ruby walked over to grab Cresent Rose when a Griffon landed on top of it and roared in her face. Then there was a gunshot that hit the Grimm and it flew away. Everyone looked back to see Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck standing behind them.

“Oh, damn, the teachers are in action!” John said.

“Students,” Port called. “I think it would be best for you to leave.”

Ruby stepped forward. “But we can help--”

“Ms. Rose,” Oobleck interrupted. “This day will surely go down in Remnant’s history. I’d prefer it if my students could live to tell about it.”

She nodded and grabbed Cresent Rose from the locker, spinning it around and hitting the ground. “Let’s go!”

Everyone ran out of the arena as the two teachers fought off the Grimm. They arrived outside where airships were loading up people to take them down. However, a fleet of airships opened their doors and released a horde of Grimm. The nearby soldiers tried to fend them off, but they weren’t doing too much. Ironwood fought an Alpha Beowolf, pulling some sick moves and shooting it in the head. The students all ran up to Ironwood.

“What’s going on?!” Ruby asked.

“Grimm are crawling all over the city, the White Fang has invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse some… vagabond has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control. So I’m--” He aimed his revolver at an approaching Beowolf and shot it right between the eyes. “Going to take it back.” 

He started walking into the airship when Jaune stepped forward. “What should we do?”

Ironwood turned back around and put his hands behind his back. “You have two choices: defend your kingdom and your school… or save yourselves. No one will fault you if you leave. Let’s move out!” He turned around and boarded the airship as it took off, leaving the remaining students where they were and looking around at each other.

“I mean, come on!” Sun said.

“We can take a ship to Beacon,” Jaune said. 

Everyone boarded the nearest airship, taking off with a boom. Daniel glanced at his friends.  _ We still have to find Team RAJR. My best guess is they’re probably going to that vault they were talking about. _

_ So how should we go about this? _ Maria asked.

Daniel hummed thoughtfully. _If they’re going for the vault, something of value must be in there, which means we have to stop them before they get it. Here’s the plan: After we land, Ashley, you’re gonna take Nicole with you and use your Shadow form to follow them. Nicole can watch them from a distance and report what she sees to us. Dakota’s gonna portal them in, and I know his portals stay open a few more seconds after he’s gone through them, so try to get in quietly. They’re not all gonna be there, so if they spot you, prepare for a fight. We also need to defend the school, so John, Maria, Valerie, you’re the attackers._ _Rika and Neon--_ He didn’t get to finish his thought as they heard an explosion above them. The airship that Ironwood was in had been shot down, and Ruby jumped out of the airship back toward Amity Colosseum. Daniel looked back at them. _Follow her!_

They nodded and followed Ruby, landing safely on a vine Rika grew. Sun waved after them. “Girls, what are you doing?!”

_ We should stick on this airship, for now,  _ John noted. 

Daniel agreed.  _ Most of this plan happens at Beacon, so prepare to fight anything that stands in our way! _

_ What are you gonna do? _ Ashley asked.

Goliath laughed suddenly.  _ We’re gonna find some bitches and go Red on their asses! _

Daniel smirked.  _ What he said. _

The airship landed and everyone poured out, weapons drawn. Daniel turned his hair blue with electricity.  _ We can’t go Red just yet. I’ll go Blue first and store up some energy for our targets. I’ll let you go off on them. _

_ Sounds good to me! _ Goliath yelled.  _ I’ve been itching for a rematch since your mission! _

Daniel formed Trusty Blaster and shot a Beowolf on his left. He formed Vendetta and decapitated an Ursa Minor on his right. He saw Ashley and Nicole in Shadow form, moving in a cloud of inky blackness. The cloud dove behind a tree and popped up elsewhere, getting closer and closer to their destination. He heard the sound of a failing engine and looked above him to see Ironwood’s airship crashing into the Dining Hall. He ran back to John’s team. “Valerie! That was Ironwood’s ship, go help him out!”

She nodded and made a mad dash for the Dining Hall, which was now on fire. As she left, Daniel suddenly got knocked off balance by an Alpha Beowolf. He formed his crystal greaves and prepared to block another attack, but John jumped up behind it and pierced its neck, dissolving it. 

Daniel smirked. “How nice of you to drop in.”

John mock bowed. “How nice of me indeed.” He returned to a serious demeanor. “Have you found them yet?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. I know that they’re somewhere near the vault, but I don’t think they’re all in one place. Most likely they’re trying to distract us one way or another.”

John hummed. “Well, if I see ‘em, I’ll let you know immediately. In the meantime…” He spun Wildfire and stabbed another Beowolf. “I’ll be slayin’ Grimm like there’s no tomorrow!”

Daniel smirked widely. “Good. I’ll go on ahead and--” He was interrupted by the ground rumbling, throwing everyone off balance. 

“...What the hell was that?” John asked.

“I don’t know,” Daniel said. “But it can’t be good. Either a building exploded, or… something big is coming.”

“Let’s hope it’s the former,” John knit his eyebrows.

“With our luck?” Daniel shook his head. “I seriously doubt it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That break was a lot shorter than I originally thought. I know I said I’d make it as long as possible, but the whole point of this break was to figure out where this story is going, and I think I’ve got it narrowed down. I’ll go back to my regular update schedule.  
> On a side note, I guess a comparison for Goliath would be like Dark Shadow from My Hero Academia, only he can also talk in his head and he doesn’t just pop out of Daniel’s body.
> 
> Anyway, thank you, you wonderful bunch of fun-loving people, and Happy New Year! May 2021 bring more things to be grateful for!


	36. School's Out - Part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, keeping a schedule isn’t that hard, all you gotta do is make one that fits your daily—or weekly—routine and make sure not to overestimate how long it will take. Like, if you’re not sure if you can make a chapter every week like me, always go for the longer amount of time. Always underpromise and overdeliver instead of overpromising and underdelivering—unless you’re sure you can do it, of course.

**_A few minutes earlier, back at Amity Arena…_ **

**General POV.**

Rika and Neon were running through one of the many hallways of Amity Colosseum, looking for Ruby and slaying the Grimm that stood in their way.

“Where did she go?” Neon asked, decapitating a Beowolf.

“I don’t know!” Rika extended Mother Nature into its bow form and shot a Griffon between the eyes. “Which way’s the arena?”

“I think it’s further down this way, past these Grimm!” She attached Slice and Dice to make a double ax. 

“Then we gotta hurry! Come here!” Neon stood next to Rika as she created a ball of thorny branches around them. “We can barrel through the Grimm with the thorns! Just like a weaponized hamster ball!”

Neon rolled her eyes. “You’re a moronic genius sometimes.”

They started rolling the thorny ball through the Grimm infested hallway, trampling any unfortunate Grimm that was in their path. Some of them tried to break the ball, but Rika extended the thorns and stabbed them. They reached the spectator stands and tumbled down into the arena. Rika stretched a hole through the branches and they looked around for any sign of Ruby. “Where could she have gone?”

Neon glanced up at an Atlesian airship above them. “Could she have gone up there?”

“How the heck could she have done that?!” Rika asked. She looked around at the lockers scattered across the arena. “Maybe she propelled herself up there with these?”   
  


“Only one way to find out!” Neon dashed over to her locker and was about to enter the coordinates when Rika stopped her. “Wait! It might not be powerful enough for the both of us, let’s tie two of them together!” Rika grabbed hers and made a vine rope that she tied around the two lockers, making a strong knot and some handles to hold on to, and extended her hand to Neon. “All right, all set, come on!”

Neon took her hand and entered the coordinates on both lockers, and they blasted off straight up toward the airship. The combined engines took them just a little higher than the airship, so they jumped off and landed on the runway with a roll. They were just in time to see Roman Torchwick’s henchman, Neo, vault over Torchwick’s back and kick Ruby. Neo dashed after her and used the hook of her umbrella to maneuver around Ruby and disarm her, kicking her in the small of her back. Roman thrust his cane into the ground, sending it flying like a rocket straight at the still-airborne Ruby. It came back to him and he fired another flare at her that knocked her back and sent her off the edge, but she grabbed her scythe and stuck it into the side of the airship, holding on to it for dear life.

“I may be a gambling man,” Torchwick began. “But even I know there’s some bets you just don’t take.” Neo extended the blade in her parasol, dragging it on the ground as she strolled toward Ruby, pointing the blade at her. “Like it or not, the people that hired me are going to change the world…  _ you _ can’t stop ‘em,  _ I _ can’t stop ‘em, and you know the old saying; ‘If you can’t beat ‘em…”

Rika and Neon took Roman’s monologuing moment as an opportunity and ambushed him, kicking him behind the knees and bringing him to the ground. “Ack, what the-- oh, great, more kids! How many more of you are we gonna have to smack sense into?!” 

Ruby pulled herself up enough to press a button on Neo’s parasol which opened up the umbrella, and she gasped as the strong winds carried her off the airship.

“NEO!” Torchwick screamed.

“I don’t care what you say,” Ruby said. “We  _ will _ stop them, and I will stop  _ you! _ BET ON  _ THAT! _ ”

Ruby used her semblance to charge him, but Roman used his cane to shoot a flare at both Rika and Neon, then he fired another flare from his cane, grabbed it with the hook of his cane, and chucked it at Ruby, hitting her in the chest. He dashed toward her and thrust the cane into her stomach before whacking her in the face with the barrel and firing another flare straight into her stomach, sending her flying backward.

“Ya got spirit, Red,” He began, walking toward her. “But this is the real world!” He hit her with his cane again, knocking her back on the ground. “The real world is cold!” Another swing on her leg. “The real world doesn’t care about spirit!” She kicked him in the shin and sent him back a little. “You wanna be a hero?! Then play the part and die like every other Huntsman in history!” He swung the cane into her face one more time, and Rika got Neon back up.

_ What do we do now?  _ Rika asked Neon through Nicole’s mind link.

She thought for a second before her eyes lit up.  _ I have an idea. Grow another vine and throw it at him like a lasso. We’ll be able to tie him up, and I can make sure he stays put. _

Rika nodded and made a long vine, making a loop on the end to grab him with. They looked back at him and he was still talking. “As for me, I’ll do what I do best: lie… steal… cheat…”

Suddenly, Rika noticed one particular Griffon getting ready to swoop down, and she quickly made the connection and threw the rope. “Watch out!”

“And survi--” Roman didn’t get to finish before he was lassoed by her, just in time to avoid the Griffon that would have swallowed him whole. 

He looked back at Rika in surprise, and she smirked. “You may be a bad guy, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to save whoever they can, no matter the side they’re on. Now, no talking, and start moving if you don’t want to get eaten this time!” She cut a part of the vine and used it as a makeshift gag for Roman. 

The Griffon roared at its prey being stolen and flew toward Ruby, and she jumped on it and pushed it into the cockpit of the airship with an explosion. Because of that, the airship rumbled violently and started tilting downward. “Thanks for your help, girls. Now let’s get out of here!”

Rika made Roman stand up and she and Neon followed Ruby to the end of the runway, where she grabbed her scythe and they abandoned ship, making their way safely to the ground. When they landed, they watched the airship fall down into some buildings.

Ruby looked back at the girls and Roman and rubbed the back of her neck. “Oopsies…”

* * *

**_Beacon Tower._ **

**General POV.**

Ashley and Nicole were moving through the darkness and following Dakota after spotting him and a dark-haired woman in the dorm hallways. Dakota used his portal on the door and they walked through a portal that led to Beacon Tower, but not before Ashley and Nicole could hoop through it without them noticing. They reached out to their teammates through Nicole’s link.  _ Alright, we’re in.  _

_ Who’s with Dakota? _ Daniel asked first.

_ Another woman, one with dark hair and a red dress with Fire Dust sewn into the fabric, _ Nicole said.  _ The portal led to an elevator in Beacon Tower. They’re waiting for it now. _

_ Alright, _ Daniel said.  _ When the elevator comes up and they go in, try to get on top of it, and when they come out, try to detain them. _

_ Got it, _ they said in unison. The elevator came up and Dakota and the other woman walked into it, heading for the bottom level. Ashley and Nicole slipped through the elevator door in Shadow form and landed on top of it without a sound, returning back to normal. After a minute and a half, it finally stopped, and they heard the doors open. Ashley looked at Nicole.  _ Ready? _

She nodded.  _ Ready. _

They opened the hatch and dropped down on the elevator floor, where Dakota and the woman no longer were. Instead, they were standing far ahead of them, where the woman had formed some sort of black bow and shot an arrow straight ahead, hitting some sort of pod that glowed with Aura that was a darker color than John’s. Upon further inspection, Ozpin and Jaune were ahead of them, Pyrrha was also in a pod, and the pod that had been hit, which was right next to Pyrrha, had a girl in it that had been hit with the arrow and died right there. The torches that were on the wall had blown out, leaving them in darkness. The orange Aura shot out of the pod and the woman absorbed it, and she started flying as balls of fire started orbiting around her. Jaune charged her, but she blasted his shield with a burst of fire.

“ _ Jaune! _ ” Pyrrha yelled. She used her semblance to push the door open and send it flying towards the woman, but she just knocked it away with the orbiting flames. She leaped out of the pod and was about to attack her when Ozpin stopped her. “Take Jaune and get out of here! Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow, bring them here right away! The tower cannot fall!”

“But I can help!” Pyrrha said.

He gave her a stern look. “You’ll only get in the way!”

She looked away and ran towards Jaune, helping him up and running out of there.

  
  


_ She killed someone! _ Nicole yelled to Ashley.

_ Dammit! _ Ashley and Nicole turned back into Shadow form and made a beeline for Dakota, turning back to normal and slamming into him, knocking him off balance. Ashley pinned him to the ground and Neon aimed Big Bang at him. “We knew you were a horrible person, but siding with a  _ murderer?! _ What the  _ fuck _ is going on in that twisted brain of yours?!”

Dakota laughed. “You’ll all understand soon!” 

“So we were followed,” the woman said. “No matter. Get those two out of here.”

Dakota nodded. “With pleasure.” he made a vertical portal above him and another portal under him and they both fell through, only this time Dakota was the one who had Ashley pinned.

_ Guys, is everything alright? _ John asked through the link.

_ Ozpin, Pyrrha, Jaune, and another girl are down in this vault!  _ Nicole yelled.  _ The woman Dakota was with killed the other girl, and now she’s floating in the air with fire! _

_ What the  _ fuck?! Daniel screamed. 

Nicole fired Big Bang at the woman, but she blocked the bullet just as easily as the pod door. Ashley shot rapidly at Dakota with Crossfire, but he made a portal behind Nicole, grabbed Ashley, and threw her into Nicole. He walked up to them and smiled smugly. “Soon, all of this won’t matter. We’ll be the ones ruling the world, and you all will be gone.” He made a portal under that led back to the courtyard and kicked them into it. He waved at them from the other side. “Bye-bye!”

Ashley tried to get through the portal, but it disappeared. “Dammit!” They both spotted John and Maria and ran over to them. “Guys!”

They looked at the new arrivals and hardened their faces. Maria shouldered The Vindicator. “How’d it go?”   
  


“Badly,” Nicole said. “That woman has some strange fire powers now and Dakota sent us back here. Where’s Daniel?”

John sighed. “He said he was going to go find the Rosemary sisters.”

“Of course he is,” Ashley shook her head. “Where’s Valerie?”

“She went to Ironwood’s crashed ship, but it’s been a good few minutes since then,” Maria said. “I just hope she’s alright.”

“She better be,” Nicole said. A rumble shook the ground once again, and they all saw the giant Grimm that was circling around. “We’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re nearing the end of Volume 3 and the first part of this fanfiction. I’ve decided that this fanfic will remain one whole work, instead of making the second work in this series. I think it’s better in the long run, and people will be able to find it more easily. I may have to rename it to The Lives of Beacon Huntsmen, and then divide each part of the fanfiction into what they’re supposed to be called.  
> As always, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time!


	37. Important Notice

So, uh, I may or may not have forgotten to write anything for this next chapter, and it was because my 15th birthday was on Thursday, January 14th, and I spent the week prior just playing Genshin Impact—you'd be surprised how fast you lose track of time playing it. I got so caught up with everything I was doing, I just didn't wanna stop, and here I am. Facing the consequences of my actions, or lack thereof. I was even planning to get a little short out today, but I don't have the full idea, and it would take too long. This is the first time I've missed an upload—the two-week break does not count—and I know not to do it again. I really have big plans for this story, we're far from done.

Anyway, that's it for today, I hope you forgive my lack of productivity this week, thank you all for 1100 hits!


	38. School's Out - The Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re reaching the end of the first part of this series. I’m going to rename the entire work and make this the first part of the story. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the story so far!

**_In the Dining Hall, a few minutes earlier._ **

**General POV.**

Valerie was fighting four of the robot soldiers that had turned on everyone on her way to the currently burning Dining Hall, where she saw Ironwood’s ship crash. She released some Ice Dust from The Revealer and froze the soldiers’ legs, then finished them off with a quick slash that cut them in half at the waist. Valerie heard Yang calling out for Blake and smashing up a robot just ahead of her. “Blake!”

Suddenly, there was a scream coming from the Dining Hall. Yang looked inside the Dining Hall, through the gaping hole that Ironwood’s ship had left. Valerie looked through a window and saw a guy dressed in black, with spiky red hair, bull horns on his head, and a mask on his face, who she vaguely recognized as the current leader of the White Fang, Adam Taurus. He was standing over Blake, who had been stabbed with his sword.  _ Oh, no. _

“Get away from her!” Yang shouted.

Valerie ran towards her. “Yang, wait!”

She let out a guttural scream and charged Adam with a boost from her gauntlets, but he pulled out his sword and in one swift movement he swung his sword horizontally and sliced off Yang’s arm right above the elbow.

“Yang!” Valerie cried. She moved to charge him when Blake called out. “Stop! Don’t do it! You’ll just make him stronger!”

Adam cleaned the blood off of his sword with a quick swing and started walking towards Yang when Blake threw herself in between them, defending Yang. 

“Why must you hurt me, Blake?” he asked. She said nothing, just glaring at him harshly. He raised his sword and sliced her head clean off, but her form faded into darkness as she retreated while carrying Yang. 

He turned around and Valerie glared at him with a newfound hatred. “You’re a monster!” She turned and ran back to her teammates.

* * *

**General POV.**

Daniel was making his way to where he thought was the most likely place for the Rosemaries to be, which was Beacon Tower, where the apparently real Wyvern was at. He reached his destination fairly quickly and took down any Grimm around him while looking around the place for his enemies. 

_ Where could they be? _ Daniel thought.

Suddenly, Daniel’s ears twitch and he darted to the side, a scimitar having been thrown at the spot he just was. It had still managed to scratch his right arm, but his Aura was already healing the wound. He looked back and saw Team RAJR standing behind him, brandishing their weapons. Julia smiled. “You don’t give up, do you?”

Daniel smirked and turned blue. “It’s just not in my dictionary.”

Samantha scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Of course you’d say some shit like that.”

Daniel formed his crystal greaves, along with Vendetta and Trusty Blaster. “So, why are you doing this?”

Sarah shrugged. “We got a job to do. Can’t let Cinder down, can we?”

“We can’t let  _ her _ down, either,” Audrey said. 

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Who is this  _ her? _ ”

“None of your business,” Julia said. “All you have to know is you can’t stop what’s coming. No one can.”

He assumed a fighting stance. “Well, I’ve cheated death, so nothing’s impossible anymore.”

“All right, enough talking, more fighting!” Samantha dashed towards him, saber raised. He blocked the strike and ducked under a chain whip from Sarah. Julia came up from behind and kicked his ass, literally, sending him into Audrey’s knee. He pushed himself back up and leg swept Audrey, then delivered a jab to her stomach and slammed her on the ground. He grabbed Sarah’s incoming whip with his greaves and yanked on it, bringing her in close and blasting her in the face with his shotgun. Audrey got up and grabbed the receiving end of Sarah’s whip, speeding around with the centrifugal force while Sarah stood firmly, and slammed into Daniel, sending him into an unfortunate Beowolf. Samantha dashed in and punched him in the stomach, further lowering his Aura. He discharged an electric current that kept them away, and he shattered Vendetta in favor of his Lightning Saber. “I’m not losing this battle.”

“If you take a look around, you’ll see that you already have,” Samantha said. “Right now, you’re just a minor inconvenience.”

He smirked. “Oh, but I still have one more trick up my sleeve.” He crouched down, charging up significant electrical energy, and leaped into the air. “Time to go Red on your ass!” He slammed into the ground, releasing a torrent of red lightning that pushed them back a few meters and changed his hair color, but his eyes remained the same, unlike the last time he tried this. The color of the Lightning Saber had changed as well, now crackling with energy.

Julia huffed. “Well, now you’re more than an inconvenience.”

He grinned mischievously and dashed toward them in a burst of lightning, locking blades with Samantha. He pushed her back and formed floating crystals that he shot at the four of them simultaneously. The crystals stuck onto them, and he used that to his advantage. He traveled through lightning and slammed into Julia, then quickly threw a peg into the air, traveled up to it, and slammed on the ground in a burst of electricity. He shot Trusty Blaster at Audrey, who was speeding towards him, and paralyzed Sarah with his Lightning Saber. He traveled to Samantha and uppercut her in the jaw. He pounded his fists together to charge up energy, then jumped high up in the air. “ _ THUNDERSTORM! _ ” he screamed. He came down and punched the ground, discharging a massive electric wave that blasted them backward, shattering their Auras and paralyzing all of them.

He heard the distinct sound of a sniper-scythe behind him and turned around to see Ruby and Weiss fighting off the Grimm that were being spawned by the Wyvern. He ran over to them while Team RAJR was immobilized. “Ruby! Weiss! What are you two doing here?”

Ruby looked at Daniel. “Jaune said Pyrrha’s at the top of the tower, going to take on Cinder by herself!”

“She’s crazy!” Daniel shouted. “You and I tried to fight her and it was a draw! How is she supposed to win?”

“That’s why we’re here,” Weiss said. “He told us to save her!”

“Also, what’s with the red hair?” Ruby asked.

“Think of it as a power booster,” Daniel said. “More importantly, I thought Wyverns were a myth!”

“Well, there’s one right in front of us, and it’s climbing the tower!” Weiss shouted.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked.

Ruby grunted. “First, we gotta--”

Suddenly, the Wyvern got off of the tower and flew away, only to turn around and fly straight through the top of the tower at the same time a shockwave of green light pulsed from up there. Pieces of the building came crashing down to the ground.

“We gotta hurry!” Ruby yelled.

Weiss focused on the tower and lined it with white glyphs. “You can do this.”

“I’ll see you there, Ruby!” Daniel smirked. He formed six crystal pegs and shot them up the tower, right alongside Weiss’s glyphs. Daniel used them to travel through the lightning, up to the top faster. He was a bit faster than Ruby and reached the top quickly. He saw Cinder forming a glass bow and arrow with her semblance and pointing it at Pyrrha, who was on her knees and without Aura, and his eyes narrowed.

_ Daniel, run as fast as you can,  _ right now.

“ _ No! _ ” He dashed forward as fast as he could, leaving a trail of red lightning behind him. He slammed into Cinder right as she let go of the arrow, sending her into a pile of giant gears, but it only threw off her aim slightly. Ruby had arrived at the top of the tower, and her eyes widened in horror.

The arrow had hit Pyrrha’s abdomen.

Daniel ran over to Pyrrha, trying to stop the blood that was flowing from her abdomen with his crystals. “You’re gonna be fine, stay with me!”

_ “PYRRHA!” _ Ruby screamed as a blinding white light suddenly shone from her eyes.

“ _ What?! _ ” Cinder shouted.

“Oh,  _ shit! _ ” Daniel made a crystal dome over him and Pyrrha. The bright light enveloped the tower.

And then there was silence.

* * *

Weiss ran up the tower when she saw what happened, and arrived at the sight of Ruby passed out on the floor. “Ruby!”

A crystal dome shattered, revealing Daniel holding Pyrrha’s wound. He saw her and his expression lightened up a tiny bit. “Thank the gods you’re here! Pyrrha needs medical attention and Ruby just shined a bright light from her eyes and passed out! I can contact my friends through Nicole’s mind link!”

She nodded and picked Ruby up, helping Daniel down to the ground. Daniel reached through Nicole’s link.  _ I need your help,  _ now!

_ What happened?! _ Maria’s urgent tone came through.

_ Pyrrha was shot and needs a doctor  _ right this second! he shouted.

_ Oh shit, where are you?! _ Nicole asked.

_ At the base of Beacon Tower, heading to the landing zone where the rest of the students are! _

_ On it! _ Ashley said.

Daniel looked back to Weiss. “They’re getting the doctors ready! We have to hurry! She’s lost a lot of blood already!”

“Got it!” Weiss lined the ground with glyphs and they sped through on them. 

They arrived at the landing zone quickly and Weiss called for help. “We have injured here! One’s unconscious and the other needs medical attention,  _ now! _ ”

The students turned around and started murmuring concernedly. Daniel placed Pyrrha down carefully where Ren, Nora, Blake, and Yang were laying. He looked at Yang, who had lost her right arm.  _ Oh, no. _

Jaune ran up to them. “ _ Pyrrha! _ ” He crouched down next to her, crying and cupping her face. “No no no, please, you  _ have  _ to come back to me!” He put his forehead against hers. “P-please… you have to…”

Everyone looked down in defeat, silently mourning. Rika and Nora were crying, even the usually stoic Ren had unshed tears. Daniel clenched his fists.  _ I couldn’t save her. I was too late. _

Just then, a light shimmered over Pyrrha, cloaking her in pale yellow. Ren and Nora looked at Jaune and saw the light was coming from him. Nora wiped her eyes. “J-Jaune?”

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Pyrrha, whose breathing pattern was starting to return to normal. “W-what?”

Ren grabbed her wrist and put his finger on it. “Her pulse is stabilizing. Whatever you’re doing, don’t stop.”

Jaune shook his head. “I won’t.”

Nora sniffled. “Thank the gods you unlocked your semblance when you did.”

“My… semblance?” Jaune asked.

“How else do you think you’re healing her, dummy?” Nora smiled softly.

He looked back down at Pyrrha. “No, I don’t think I’m healing her. Our Aura heals our bodies. It feels… It feels more like I’m using  _ my _ Aura to amplify  _ hers. _ ”

“Wait, aren’t you worried about running out?” she asked.

He smiled through his tears. “Pyrrha once told me I have a lot of it. I still believe her.”

Pyrrha fluttered her eyes open and looked around. “Jaune? What’s going on?” Her eyes widened slightly. “Did… did we both… are we dead?”

Jaune chuckled softly. “No. We’re both alive. You’re alive.” He leaned down and kissed her. She was surprised at first, but then she leaned into the kiss as well.

Everyone else started clapping, elated at the fact that Jaune finally realized Pyrrha’s love for him. They pulled away, and Jaune smiled. “So… does this make us a couple now?”

Pyrrha laughed. “I would hope so.”

Nora grinned. “It’s about time! Pyrrha’s been holding this in since the second month of Beacon!”

Jaune froze. “Wait, what?”

A beat of silence, then a wave of facepalms.

* * *

Samantha finally regained feeling in her legs and stood up, using her saber for balance. The rest of her team also regained control of their bodies and stood up with her. They looked up at the tower and Audrey, with the help of Sarah’s Amplification, carried the three of them to the top of the tower. They spotted Cinder, who was writhing in pain. “She… she had the power of the silver eyes!”

  
Samantha smiled. “It’s fine. We got the Fall Maiden’s powers. Our mission is accomplished, at least. And when we find them, we will  _ annihilate them. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the finale of what I will now call: The Lives of Beacon Huntsmen, Act I: The First Year. Next week is a chapter of the aftermath, and a trailer of Act II! Look forward to it! I’ll also give some examples of how my characters’ voices sound!


	39. Epilogue - Act I: The First Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the final chapter of Act I! I hope you've enjoyed the whole story thus far! Make sure to leave kudos and comments if you haven't already and tell me what you thought :D

**On the airship that took the students away from Beacon Academy...**

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

  
  


We gazed back at the once illustrious Beacon Academy, now overrun by a mythical Grimm and its kin. 

“What are we gonna do now?” Rika asked, tears flowing. “All that time at Beacon, all the memories…” Maria offered a hug, and Rika leaned into it. “There’s so much still left to do…”

“With all of our training, everyone at the school working together,” John said. “We lost.”

“Where do we go from here?” Neon asked.

I closed my eyes, calming my breathing. I nearly collapsed after Weiss and I had brought Ruby and Pyrrha back from the tower, due to being Red for so long. I stood up and looked at my friends. “I don’t know what to do now, or what’s gonna happen next, but I do know one thing’s for sure.”

“And what’s that?” Ashley asked.

“We have to be grateful for everything that  _ has _ happened during our one year at Beacon,” I said. “We found each other, we fought alongside each other, and there was never a dull moment. And at the very least, no one else died down there. We should count ourselves lucky, normal people wouldn’t have survived that.” At this point, everyone on the ship turned to me. “Everyone here worked as hard as they could to fight the invasion. Everyone pitched in, whether it was on the field or helping to evacuate citizens. We gave it our all.” A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips. “We may have lost the battle, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost the war. We’ve still learned what it means to be Huntsmen and Huntresses.” I raised my fist. “And we can still fight, which means we can still protect others!” My usual smirk returned full force. “So are we just gonna sit around, or are we gonna help out where we can?”

There was silence for a moment, and one guy’s hand shot up. “I’m gonna help out!”

A girl’s hand raised. “Me too!”

Suddenly, everyone in the airship was raising their hand and shouting “Me too!” I looked at my friends, and they all raised their hands and spoke in unison. “Us too.”

Daniel clenched his fists and grinned. “Alright. So no more moping around. Instead, we figure out what we can do to help people!”

Everyone nodded affirmatively and started talking amongst each other quietly. Neon tapped Daniel on the arm. “So what are  _ we _ gonna do?”

“Well, how does going back to Patch sound?” I shrugged. “My parents have been eager to meet you all in person, and I’d like to go visit John’s parents as well.”

“That would be nice,” Neon said.

“Patch doesn’t sound too bad,” Ashley agreed.

Rika wiped at her eyes. “I’ve always wanted to go there!”

Valerie smiled. “That sounds like a solid plan. We should all let our parents know that we’re okay and we’re gonna stay in Patch.”

“Alright, our next stop is Patch, then!” I clapped. “We’ll get off at the next landing, and then take an airship to my home!”

“Don’t forget about me,” Jax suddenly appeared behind me. “I gotta stop by and say hi to Mom and Dad.”

I whipped around and saw him standing next to me and the rest of Team JADE sitting down behind him. John and I sat down next to them while the girls talked to each other. “Jax! When did you get here?”

He flicked me on the forehead. “We’ve been here the whole time, stupid. I heard your grand speech. That was a pretty good way of getting everyone’s spirits up.”

“Yeah, well someone had to do it,” I shrugged. “All this moping around will just attract more Grimm. Anyway, where were you guys during the chaos?”

“We were helping out in Vale,” Sean said. “Glynda’s still down there trying to repair the city, and she told us to come here.” 

“Qrow and General Ironwood are with her, too,” Jax continued. “But enough about that, more importantly…” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You two bringing home some girls now, are you?”

I flicked him on the nose. “Don’t be a bitch.”

“I’m just asking!” he laughed. 

“You gotta admit, though,” Darwin interjected. “You guys got a hot, bubbly blonde, a smart, sexy redhead, two adorable twins, an airhead-type cutie, and a beautiful cat faunus--”

“Alright, that’s enough out of you,” Evan grabbed Darwin’s shoulder and sat him back down. “Sorry about him, he’s an idiot. However, he might be right. Those are some good girls you got there. You guys have good teamwork, you enjoy each other’s company… Girls like that ain’t easy to come by.”

I shrugged. “Well, we haven’t fallen in love just yet. Right, John?”

John took a second to respond, quickly glancing in the girls’ direction. “Yeah, not yet.”

Jax raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

He nodded. “Yep. No love yet. But hey, that could change at any point in time. We’ve been together for a whole year, something’s bound to happen to some of us.” We all nodded in agreement. 

I looked back to the girls.  _ Maybe… maybe something  _ will _ happen. _

_ Oh, no, _ Goliath said.  _ If you fall in love, I’m gonna have to deal with the lovey-dovey crap. _

_ Shut up, _ I retorted.

><><><><><><><><><><

The airship to Patch finally landed at the dropoff zone. Evan and Darwin said they couldn’t join us but promised to go another time. We were walking to my house, making small conversation.

“Are you actually gonna stay over?” I asked Jax. “Or are you gonna go back to Haven?”

“I’ll stay the night,” he said. “Today was the tournament, so I don’t need to go back just yet. Sean and I will probably head back tomorrow, though.”

“Alright,” I nodded. 

We arrived at the street my house was on, and not long after, we were on my doorstep. I knocked on the door three times and waited for an answer. A few seconds later, the door opened to a woman with wavy dark brown hair and wolf ears with dark brown eyes. Her eyes widened upon seeing me and Jax, and she pulled us into a bone-crushing hug. “Daniel! Jax! You boys are okay! Thank the gods!”

“We won’t be if you crush us!” Jax gasped out.

She pulled back and looked at everyone else. “You brought guests! Come inside!”

She led us all into the living room, where Dad, Tiffany, and Miles were sitting on the couch to our left, talking to each other with concerned expressions. They looked at us and immediately started walking towards us. Tiffany rushed over to John and Dad raised his arms. “You guys! You’re not dead!”

“Dad, come on,” I said. “Did you really think we couldn’t handle ourselves out there?”

“Of course not,” he said. “But it never hurts to check up on you guys. You are my sons, after all.”

“Oh, my baby!” Tiffany hugged John tightly. “Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!”

Miles put his hand on her shoulder. “He’s okay. “You’re a tough guy, aren’t you, John?”

John wriggled out of his mom’s vice grip. “Yeah, I’m good. But enough about us, Daniel and I brought our teammates!”

He gestured to the six girls who were standing behind us. Maria curtsied. “It’s nice to meet you all in person. I’m Maria, and this is my sister, Rika.”

She waved enthusiastically. “Hi!”

Valerie extended her hands to the four of them separately. “I’m Valerie!”

Neon waved shyly. “I’m Neon.”

Nicole pushed a braid behind her with her arm. “I’m her twin sister, Nicole.”

“And I’m Ashley,” she nodded in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Springs and Hawkin.”

Miles waved his hand dismissively. “Please, just call us by our names. I’m Miles, this is Tiffany and Macy, and you should already know Jason.”

Sean walked out from behind Jax. “‘Sup, Jax brought me along.”

“Ah, Sean!” Dad shook his hand. “Great to see you again! How are your friends, Momori and Marina?”

He shrugged. “They’re doing fine, it’s Lyrio who has a bit of trouble adjusting to the sudden new change.”

I looked between Dad and Sean confusedly. “Who, who, and who?”

“Friends of mine,” Sean explained. “Those three went to a different school and had to transfer to Haven for their parents’ work-related travels.”

I turned back to Dad. “Oh, yeah, speaking of work-related travels, how are Alana and Alenn?”

“They’re doing great,” he said. “They’re with their parents, training with Alenn and his new Light Bending semblance.”

I did a double-take. “Wait, he discovered his semblance?!”

“Yeah, he can mold light into different things, and reflect it off of himself so he becomes invisible,” Dad grinned. “I tell ya, he may be a scaredy-cat, but he is going places.” 

“Anyway,” Mom turned to the girls. “How are you all doing after that intense battle for Beacon? We watched the whole thing live, it must’ve been right out there.”

“It was hard, that’s for sure,” Valerie said. 

“But we were able to make sure no one else died!” Rika exclaimed. “Neon, Ruby, and I even captured Roman Torchwick safely!”

“That was you?!” Miles exclaimed. 

“Yup, I tied him up and we turned him in!” she beamed. 

“Speaking of Ruby, I hope she and Yang are okay,” I said.

“Yeah, Yang took a bad hit and lost her right arm,” John explained to our parents. “She and Ruby were unconscious on our ride back. They actually live somewhere in Patch.”

“Well,” Mom started. “We’ve been standing around here long enough, are you all hungry?”

“Absolutely!” Rika exclaimed.

“I’m famished,” Maria agreed.

“Then I’ll prepare a meal for you all.” She smiled.

“I’ll help out,” Tiffany said. “It’s the least we could do for such beautiful girls who made sure our boys came back safely.”

John rolled his eyes. “Mom, we’re not children anymore.”

“You’ll always be children in our eyes,” Mom said. “It’s part of being parents.”

I patted him on the back. “Don’t try to fight it. I’ve done it before; they won’t change their mind.”

Everyone laughed at that, and we all sat around the couch, my teammates and I telling stories of our time at Beacon.

><><><><><><><><><><

Bonus story: Daniel’s birthday (Because I forgot, on both the character’s birthday—June 22—and my actual birthday—January 14.)

><><><><><><><><><><

**_Beacon Academy, Team DAMN’s room._ **

**Daniel’s POV; first person.**

I woke up slowly, waiting for my vision to clear up. The sun was shining directly in my face, forcing me up. The first thing I noticed was that none of my teammates were present in the room with me. I pushed off the covers and made my bed neatly, brushed my teeth and showered, and put on my signature hoodie, pants, and shoes. 

I opened the door and walked out, noticing that it was silent, even for a Saturday. I walked down the hall and knocked on Team JASN’s door. No answer. I knocked again, a minute passes, still no answer. They should’ve opened the door by now unless they’re not there, so I decided to leave for the Dining Hall to get some food, but even walking through campus, it’s empty. You might even think the place is deserted. I stop at the dining hall and I noticed the windows are pitch-black, almost as if they had been painted over. I hesitantly opened the door and saw nothing but black as I was pulled in forcefully. I stumbled forward and almost fell over but I kept my balance as I stood ready for anything. I could move, but there was something around me that blinded me. I felt someone push me forward and stop, then I heard them run forward. The darkness was removed, and a large group of students stood in front of me. Almost everyone I knew and more were there.

“Happy 17th birthday, Daniel!”

I looked around the room in surprise, finding balloons on the tables and streamers all around the walls of the Dining Hall. There were banners on the window that had been hidden earlier, behind what had looked like pitch-black paint, and speakers in the back connected to an audio console. “Woah… you guys really went all out! How did you do all of this?”

John stepped out of the crowd. “Well, remember when we sent you to bed early last night?”

“Uh-huh, I was really confused,” I said.

“Well, we were talking to Professor Goodwitch,” Valerie continued. “And she helped us decorate the place for a surprise party! We invited everyone!”

I glanced at the students, and she was right. Teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, CVFY, JADE, even Nick was there.

“How did you make it so dark in here?” I laughed. “I couldn’t see a thing!”

“That was my idea,” Ashley smiled. “I thought, ‘since it’s daytime and faunus can see in the dark, what if I used my shadows?’”

“And it was a marvelous plan, I must say,” Maria patted Ashley on the shoulder.

“Yeah, good thinking!” Rika high-fived her.

Jax walked up to me. “Happy birthday, baby bro.”

Nicole raised her fist. “Alright! Time to get this party started! Turn on the music!”

Neon pressed a button on the audio console and music started to play ‘Roses’ by SAINt JHN, the Imanbek Remix.

“Now  _ that’s _ good music!” John exclaimed. 

Ashley turned to me, walking to a table where gifts were stacked with our friends in tow. “Come on! It’s your party, after all, and you’ve got some gifts to open!”

I smiled and followed them. “You guys are really good friends, have I told you that?”

“Yes, you have,” Maria smirked.

“But it wouldn’t hurt to say it more often!” Rika grinned.

“No complaints here,” Neon agreed.

“Come on, say it again!” Nicole teased.

I put on my signature smirk. “You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for!”

They all cheered, and we arrived at the table with everyone else.

  
  


**End of Act I: The First Year**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. We’ve arrived at the end of the first part of this story. It’s crazy to think this whole plot came to me after thinking about what it would be like to play hide and seek in Beacon. That’s originally what this was going to be, just a short chapter with my characters in the RWBY universe, playing hide and seek in Beacon with the MCs. I haven’t even written out that chapter, it was just floating around in my head, and then I came up with this instead. I’ll write it soon, just to show my original plot. Now, I’m going to put this work on hiatus for two months, so I have time to plot out more of my story; charging in headfirst doesn’t always work, y’know, even if it’s what I’ve been doing this whole time. I’ll post a new chapter on March 28th, 2021.
> 
> Now, here are the voices that I think fit my main characters in this story:  
> Daniel: Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic Boom.)  
> Ashley: Toka Takanashi (Chuunibyou—English version.)  
> Maria: The only person that’s close enough in my mind that I could find is Ruby Rose (the actress for Batwoman,) just imagine a slightly deeper voice.  
> Rika: Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony.)  
> John: Adrien Agreste (Miraculous Ladybug.)  
> Valerie: Elze Silhoueska (In Another World With My Smartphone—English version.)  
> Neon: Fluttershy (My Little Pony.)  
> Nicole: Sanae Dekomori (Chuunibyou—English version)

**Author's Note:**

> If you actually made it this far, congratulations! If you liked it and wanna read more, leave kudos and comments on this work! Bye for now!
> 
> 3065


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